Shield Therapeutics plc
("Shield" or the "Group")
Shield Therapeutics notes UK launch of Feraccru® by Norgine
London, UK, 5 December 2018: Shield Therapeutics plc (LSE:STX), a commercial stage, pharmaceutical company delivering innovative specialty pharmaceuticals to address patients' unmet medical needs, is pleased to note the announcement today by Norgine that they have launched Feraccru® in the UK. Feraccru® is a novel, effective and well tolerated treatment for Iron Deficiency in adults. In September 2018, Shield licensed Feraccru® to Norgine B.V. in most European territories.
Carl Sterritt, Chief Executive Officer of Shield Therapeutics, added: "I am delighted that Norgine's UK team is now starting to promote Feraccru® in the UK. Since announcing the licence agreement in September 2018, we have been working closely with Norgine to transfer knowledge and responsibilities from Shield to them and the UK launch demonstrates that this transition period is progressing well."
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For further information please contact:
Shield Therapeutics plc +44 (0)207 186 8500
Carl Sterritt, Chief Executive Officer
Tim Watts, Interim Chief Financial Officer
Nominated Advisor and Joint Broker +44 (0)203 100 2222
Liberum Capital Limited
Christopher Britton/Steve Pearce
Joint Broker +44 (0)207 418 8900
Peel Hunt LLP
James Steel/ Dr Christopher Golden
Financial PR Advisor +44 (0)203 709 5700
Consilium Strategic Communications
Mary-Jane Elliott/Matthew Neal
About Feraccru®
Feraccru® is a novel, stable, non-salt, oral formulation of ferric iron, which has a differentiated mechanism of action compared to salt-based oral iron therapies. When salt-based oral iron therapies are ingested, the iron must dissociate from the salt in the GI tract to allow the iron to be absorbed and treat the IDA. This free iron readily chelates to form insoluble clumps and produces damaging free radicals that together cause a range of mild-to-severe GI adverse events, including nausea, bloating and constipation, leading to poor tolerability, reduced patient compliance and ultimately treatment failure. In addition, many patients with IDA are concurrently treated with medicines that raise the pH in the gut which further reduces the effect of salt-based oral iron therapies as they require highly acidic conditions to be absorbed. Feraccru® is not an iron salt, and iron can be absorbed from the ferric maltol molecule, and as a result, it does not routinely cause the same treatment-limiting intolerance issues. Feraccru® has been shown in clinical trials to be well-tolerated by patients even when they had previously failed treatment with salt-based oral iron therapies, which should lead to increased patient compliance and better patient outcomes.
Currently, the only treatment option for IDA patients who cannot tolerate salt-based oral iron therapies, is IV iron therapy. IV iron therapies quickly increase iron stores via direct administration of very large doses of iron, causing an increase in Hb levels that is physiologically controlled and occurs over a period of weeks, as is the case with Feraccru®. IV iron therapies, however, are invasive, costly, inconvenient and complex to administer, and also come with potentially life-threatening, spontaneous hypersensitivity reactions.
Feraccru® has been approved by the European Commission for the treatment of iron deficiency in adults, with or without anaemia.
About Shield Therapeutics plc
Shield is a commercial stage, pharmaceutical company delivering innovative specialty pharmaceuticals to address patients' unmet medical needs. Our clear purpose is to help our patients become people again, by enabling them to enjoy the things that make the difference in their everyday lives. The Group has a marketed product, Feraccru®, for the treatment of iron deficiency in adult patients with or without anaemia. Feraccru® has exclusive IP rights until the mid-2030's. For more information please visit www.shieldtherapeutics.com.
