Shield Therapeutics builds revenues as US prescriptions grow

Revenues grew more than threefold at pharmaceutical firm Shield Therapeutics over the first half of the year as it continues efforts to establish itself in the US market.

The maker of iron deficiency tablets, which has operations on Tyneside, saw revenue increase to $12.1m (£9.2m) in the six months to the end of June, up from $3.7m (£2.8m) in the same period last year. The earnings came on the back of wider use of Shield's flagship Accrufer tablets with total prescriptions growing to about 65,200 - driven by sales in large US states such as California, Florida and Texas.

But costs of staffing Shield's ambitious US expansion meant operating losses grew to $15.5m (£11.8m) during the first half, compared with $12.6m (£9.6m) in the first half of 2023. Shield's interim CEO Anders Lundstrom, who took the helm of the London-listed firm earlier this summer, said the business had a handle on its spending during the launch phase of the plan with partner Viatris.

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Meanwhile Shield saw progress in bringing its drugs to other overseas markets with Accrufer recently approved by Canadian health authorities; a new drug application filed for the tablets in South Korea, and advanced studies under way in China which the firm said were similar to that led to approvals from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and US Food & Drug approval (FDA). It also told investors of a paediatric clinical trial focussed on children with iron deficiency anaemia.

Anders Lundstrom, interim CEO of Shield Therapeutics, said: "H1 2024 has been another strong period of growth for Shield which is demonstrated through the significant increase in sales figures, net selling price and number of prescriptions for Accrufer in the US. We continue to focus on building momentum through creating greater awareness of Accrufer among health care professionals in the US as well as expanding our geographic reach with our international partners.