Shares in Shield Therapeutics (STX:AIM) skipped ahead by 3.2% to 48.5p after the specialty biotech inked an exclusive licence agreement for its Accrufer oral iron deficiency drug with Canadian private company KYE Pharmaceuticals.
Under the terms of the tie-up, KYE will develop and commercialise Accrufer in Canada, where iron deficiency is a public health concern.
In today’s announcement, Shield said will undertake and be responsible for all clinical and regulatory costs related to activities required to achieve marketing authorisation and commercialisation of Accrufer in Canada.
Shield will be responsible for all the costs of making the drugs sold in the North American nation.
WORLDWIDE PREVALENCE
Prevalent worldwide, 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.
Shield’s Accrufer product will be the first oral prescription-only therapy available in Canada to treat patients who continue to suffer from low iron despite attempts at treatment with currently available agents.
The AIM-traded company will receive an upfront payment of £150,000 and is eligible to receive £850,000 in development and sales milestones comprised of a payment of £250,000 upon regulatory approval of Accrufer by Health Canada and up to £600,000 in milestone payments upon the achievement of specified calendar net sales targets.
For the term of the agreement, Shield will also receive double-digit royalties on net sales of Accrufer.
Last month, shares in Shield Therapeutics spiked after the company said it had made substantial progress in expanding access points for Accrufer in the US.
GREAT START
Shield’s CEO Greg Madison said the Canada deal ‘gets 2022 off to a great start’ for his charge, which is dedicated to ‘bringing this important product to patients around the world with iron deficiency. Securing a commercial partnership for Canada is an important part of our strategy and we feel that KYE is the right partner. We look forward to supporting KYE’s efforts to bring Accrufer to the market in Canada.
‘Shield has made significant progress on the commercial launch of Accrufer/Feraccru over the last 12 months by implementing important geographic partnerships and successfully securing payer coverage with several large pharmacy benefit managers. We look forward to continuing to expand the awareness of Accrufer/Feraccru among healthcare professionals in 2022.’
