Shield Therapeutics swings to losses in first half

Commercial-stage pharmaceutical company Shield Therapeutics reported first-half revenues of £0.5m in its interim results on Tuesday, falling from £8.9m year-on-year.

The AIM-traded firm swung to a loss of £7.3m in the six months ended 30 June, from a profit of £3.1m a year earlier, while its net cash outflow from operating activities was £8m, compared to an inflow of £2m in the first half of 2020.

It raised net proceeds of £27.7m from a placing, subscription and open offer in March, with its cash balance at 30 June totalling £22.6m, up from £2.9m at the end of December.

On the operational front, ‘Accrufer’ was launched in the United States after the period ended, on 1 July.

Shield reported 51% growth in ‘Feraccru’ sales volumes in Europe compared with the second half of 2020, adding that authorities in China had confirmed a regulatory approval pathway for Feraccru in the country.

The first stage of the Feraccru/Accrufer paediatric study was completed, and a license deal for the development and commercialisation of Accrufer in South Korea was secured post-period end in August.

“The first six months of 2021 have been a truly pivotal and exciting period for Shield which opens up the prospect of substantially greater shareholder value for investors,” said chief executive officer Greg Madison.

“During the first quarter, the group's US strategy transitioned from an out-licence approach to one of launching Accrufer ourselves in the US, and the successful fundraise in March provided the financial resources for the launch.”

Madison said that in the second quarter, a “huge amount” of planning and implementation was completed, which allowed the firm to launch Accrufer on 1 July.

“With Accrufer now available in the US, and Feraccru available in Europe, I am excited about the long-term prospects for our products and Shield.”

At 1140 BST, shares in Shield Therapeutics were down 7.89% at 44.95p.