Shares in iron deficiency specialist pharmaceutical firm Shield Therapeutics (STX:AIM) leapt 31% to 38.4p after it said it had made substantial progress in expanding access points for Accrufer in the US.
The company launched its oral iron deficiency drug in July 2021 and today announced it has successfully secured payer coverage with several large pharmacy benefit managers, including Express Scripts and Optum, effectively giving it access to around 40 million patients.
The contracts mean Accufer will be immediately available on a list of prescription drugs approved for reimbursement by the clients of the pharmacy benefit managers.
Today’s news is significant because in the US pharmacy benefit managers administer prescription drugs for over 270 million Americans, covering commercial health plans, self-insured employer plans as well as state government employee plans.
CRUCIAL ACCESS
Chief executive Greg Madison explained: ‘Gaining coverage of Accrufer® among payers is a critical step for adoption, and we expect to further expand that coverage in 2022.
‘Our clinical message has been well received during the initial stages of our launch, and we continue to expand awareness of Accrufer® among health care professionals.’
Iron deficiency anaemia is a condition where the blood lacks adequate healthy red blood cells, which carry oxygen around the body, with sufferers reporting they are often tired and short of breath.
Around five million Americans are treated every year for iron deficiency and the global market is expected to grow at an annual compound growth rate of 16.4% to 2027 according to Data Bridge Market Research.
