Shield Therapeutics PLC said on Wednesday that its revenue had multiplied threefold, but an increased cost of sales after its US expansion had still widened annual loss.

Shield Therapeutics is a Newcastle, England-based commercial-stage pharmaceutical company focused on iron deficiency product ACCRUFeR.

The company reported that its pretax loss had widened by 31% to $15.5 million from $11.8 million year-on-year for the six months ended June 30, despite revenue more than tripling to $12.1 million from $3.7 million.

Cost of sales also more than tripled to £6.7 million from £2.1 million. This was primarily driven by Shield’s expansion into the US in support of ACCRUFeR’s launch, which Shield said had been ‘partially offset’ by higher ACCRUFeR revenue.

Shares in Shield Therapeutics fell by 13% to 4.62 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.

In August, Shield announced its launch of ACCRUFeR in Canada following approval from Health Canada. The agreement means Shield will receive a £250,000 milestone payment as well as additional revenue-based milestone payments and double-digit royalties on net sales.

Interim Chief Executive Officer Anders Lundstrom said: ‘The first half of 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 have also continued to manage our cash burn during launch and scale of ACCRUFeR while strengthening our balance sheet by implementing innovative financing solutions like the working capital financing with Sallyport in April and adding $5.7 million through the milestone monetisation agreement with AOP Health International Management AG post period end.’

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