Gateshead pharmaceutical firm Shield Therapeutics saw its turnover soar after signing a deal to licence one of its drugs in China, new figures show.
Shield, which makes iron deficiency drug Feraccru/Accrufer, has said it expects its revenues to come in at 拢9.4m in 2020. The figure is 13 times its 2019 turnover, which stood at just 拢700,000.
The vast majority of the revenue came from a deal signed with ASK Pharm, which will allow the company to licence Shield鈥檚 drugs in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Shield received 拢8.7m for the licencing rights. A further 拢700,000 came from royalties relating to Norgine鈥檚 sales of Ferracru in Europe.
Shield鈥檚 international expansion also made progress in the US, a market the company has been attempting to enter for a number of years.
The business had initially hoped to strike a marketing deal in the US last year but recently revealed it would attempt to launch Accrufer in the region itself, and is looking for sub-licence partners to help it do so. To finance the launch, Shield is now looking at ways it can raise between $30m and $40m.
Tim Watts, CEO of Shield Therapeutics plc, said: 鈥2020 has been a positive year for Shield on many fronts.
鈥淓uropean sales volume growth of around 70% despite the Covid pandemic is very encouraging for the long term with launches still to come in France, Italy and Spain and many other European markets, and the withdrawal of Teva鈥檚 opposition to our European patents has removed a significant uncertainty. Progress by ASK Pharm in defining the necessary development path to product approval suggests that a launch in the huge market of China is possible by 2023.
鈥淚n the US our knowledge of the iron deficiency market and the great opportunity for Accrufer has developed massively during the year such that we are now evaluating a Shield-led launch in the US as an alternative to out-licensing the product. We aim to give clarity on the US by the end of March and I am sure that 2021 will be a transformational year for Shield.鈥
At the year end, Shield鈥檚 cash balances stood at 拢2.9m, down from 拢4.1m in 2019. It also has two loan facilities from two shareholders that total around 拢4.4m. Shield said these loans allow it to extend its available cash until late 2021.
