Shield Therapeutics irons losses, agrees commercialisation deal

19th Sep 2018 08:36

(Sharecast News) - Iron deficiency treatment specialist Shield Therapeutics narrowed losses as revenues grew in the first half of that saw a series of positive developments.Revenues grew 248% to £495,000 in the six months ended 30 June, helping the firm narrow its net loss by 16% to £8m along with a 33% reduction in Shield's selling costs to £2.6m.Net cash tumbled 73% to £3.5m, primarily in relation to key research and development activities and commercialisation costs.Despite setbacks in February as a result of disappointing preliminary data from its AEGIS-CKD study, Shield argued that it had made "considerable progress" during the first half and intends to build on this momentum in the coming months.Chief executive Carl Sterritt said: "I am pleased to be able to report that the business has continued to develop positively.""Although we have had to adapt during the first half of the year, I remain confident that we will be able to build a valuable business and bring benefits to many patients worldwide who suffer today from iron deficiency."Elsewhere, Shield revealed it had entered into an exclusive licence agreement with Norgine BV for the commercialisation of its iron deficiency treatment Feraccru in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.In addition to retaining full commercial rights to Feraccru in all unlicensed countries, Shield will receive an £11m upfront licence payment and as much as €54.5m in development and sales milestones, together with royalties ranging from 25% to 40%.As of 0830 BST, Shield shares had climbed 8.20% to 33p.