Drugs company Shield Therapeutics says it has strengthened its finances with up to $15m (£11.5m) of additional funding and is looking to make 10% cost savings.
The specialist iron deficiency tablet supplier, which has operations on Tyneside, says it has agreed a $5m extension to its $10m working capital financing facility with Sallyport Commercial Finance and has entered into a non-binding agreement with shareholder AOP Health International Management AG for up to $10m of new equity. If carried out, the move will give AOP more than 50% of the voting rights in Shield.
Shield says additional capital and savings are needed if it is to reach its goal of becoming cash flow positive by the end of next year. The firm did not say where the 10% cost savings would come from but said its rate of cash burn "remains highly dependent on" the sales growth for its Accrufer iron deficiency tablets matching its own forecasts.
In an update to shareholders on the London Stock Exchange, Shield - which is in the midst of a major push into the US drugs market - said net sales of Accrufer had grown 4% between Q2 and Q3, to $7.2m (£5.5m)m and 76% compared with Q3 last year. Bosses reported there had been about 43,500 prescriptions of Accrufer across the quarter, with an average net selling price of $167 (£128) per prescription that included the impact of the summer buying pattern by wholesalers and pharmacies in June and July, ahead of July 4 holiday in the US.
Anders Lundstrom, interim chief executive officer, said: "It has been another successful quarter for Shield as we work towards becoming cash flow positive by the end of FY 2025. We continue to see increased demand for Accrufer in the US and across all our territories. Net sales, total prescriptions and the net selling price of Accrufer are all showing positive trends, and with a strengthened balance sheet and tight control of our cost base we will continue to build momentum behind Accrufer and make the steps required to transition to cash flow positive by the end of 2025."
The report of sales growth is the latest in a string of similar announcements for Shield, which is also looking to bring its iron deficiency beating tablets to countries other than the US. In September the firm said Canadian health authorities had recently approved the drug, while new applications have been filed in South Korea. Studies were also said to be under way in China.
