Hardman & Co Research: Shield Therapeutics (STX): Accelerating effectiveness of enlarged sales team

Shield is a commercial-stage pharma company delivering specialty products that address patients’ unmet medical needs, with an initial focus on iron deficiency (ID). Since its US launch in July 2021, Shield has been increasing physician awareness of the differentiating characteristics of Accrufer® as an oral ID drug, with the aim of ramping up prescription (Rx) growth and sales traction. Positive Rx momentum in 2022 started to accelerate at the end of 1Q’23 and has continued into 3Q’23, following

The Hardman & Co Monthly: November 2023

This month's feature article is entitled 'Gold and a Chinese Credit Event'. A Western phenomenon? If you own, or are considering owning, gold or gold equities, it’s likely that you’re concerned about protecting your wealth, or the performance of your fund, in the expectation of some kind of financial instability. Maybe your confidence in policymakers is ebbing, or you’ve researched debt bubbles in history and concluded that physical gold and silver have been the safest places to be invested whe

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 12 Oct 23

12th October 2023 @HybridanLLP Status of this Note and Disclaimer This document has been issued to you by Hybridan LLP for information purposes only and should not be construed in any circumstances as an offer to sell or solicitation of any offer to buy any security or other financial instrument, nor shall it, or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract relating to such action. This document has no regard for the specific investment obje

Shield Therapeutics: Accrufer progressing nicely, new finance put in place

Shield Therapeutics' Q2 results and commentary suggest the US commercialisation of Accrufer (ferric maltol), which is conducted in collaboration with Viatris, continues to go well. However, the company has trimmed back its prescription volume guidance by c15-20% and highlighted that a high level of

Shield Therapeutics - Ramped up and heading into a stronger H223

Shield Therapeutics’ H123 results were largely as expected. Despite the minor operational adjustments with the commercialisation ramp-up, our long-term expectations remain unchanged. H123 revenue of $4.3m grew 65.8% y o y and was largely driven by US Accrufer sales. Total prescriptions grew 59% (vs H222) to 26,200 and are anticipated to accelerate in H223 with the completed build out of its sales platform. For the medium term, we anticipate additional launches in the EU and regulatory approvals

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 28 Sep 23

28th September 2023 @HybridanLLP Status of this Note and Disclaimer This document has been issued to you by Hybridan LLP for information purposes only and should not be construed in any circumstances as an offer to sell or solicitation of any offer to buy any security or other financial instrument, nor shall it, or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract relating to such action. This document has no regard for the specific investment ob

Shield Therapeutics - $26.1m fundraise ($20.0m debt)/$6.1m equity)

Shield raised $26.1m through a $20m term loan facility with SWK Holdings (unconditional) and $6.1m equity placing to fund several initiatives to drive improvement in gross-to-net (GTN) prices (including new field access team), fund the working capital needs (inventories and receivables) of the US growth story and repay the $5.7m AOP Health convertible loan. The interims and Q3 update clearly show the fruits of the Viatris collaboration, with covered lives increasing 20% to 123m (vs. 100m) and st

The Hardman & Co Monthly: September 2023

Feature article: Equity Income – UK or Global? Should investors widen their horizons? Introduction: ► The UK Equity Income sector (UKEI) is the fourth-largest investment company (IC) sector in the Association of Investment Companies’ (AIC) universe, with £12.5bn of assets (as at August 2023), and is the traditional home for investors looking for income in the equity market. ► The UKEI not only provides investors with a better dividend yield than the ge

The Hardman & Co Monthly: August 2023

Feature article: UK interest rates and “risk-free” gilts at their peak? Infrastructure stocks struggle Executive summary Infrastructure/Renewable Energy Funds ► The share price performances of the nine Infrastructure Investment Companies (IICs) and of the 22 Renewable Energy Infrastructure Funds (REIFs) have been dire over the past year. Undoubtedly, the sharp rise in interest rates has presented the sector with serious challenges, especially since the yield on “risk-free” 10-year gilts has r

Shield Therapeutics : First signs of hoped-for Accrufer Rx inflection

Shield Therapeutics' recent Q2 trading update showed some early signs of the hoped for upward inflection in the US Accrufer (ferrric maltol) trajectory, as the joint marketing operation with Viatris became operational over the period. Key performance indicators reported included US prescription vol

Shield Therapeutics (STX): Accrufer Rx momentum gathering

Shield is a commercial-stage pharma company delivering specialty products that address patients’ unmet medical needs, with an initial focus on iron deficiency (ID). Since its US launch in July 2021, Shield has been increasing physician awareness of the differentiating characteristics of Accrufer® as an oral ID drug, with the aim of ramping up prescription (Rx) growth and sales traction. Positive Rx momentum in 2022 started to accelerate at the end of 1Q’23 and has continued into 2Q’23, following

Morning Note – 20 July 2023

SkinBioTherapeutics - FY23 results

SkinBioTherapeutics has published results for the 12-months to June 2023, reporting AxisBiotix-Ps revenues up 77% YoY to £132k and an improved gross margin of 65% (FY22A: 61%). Operating costs were stable and the operating loss was flat YoY at £3.0m. Cash at the year-end was £1.3m and subsequently the company raised c£3.3m gross via a placing and retail offer. We have introduced FY24 forecasts with this report, expecting continued growth in AxisBiotix-Ps revenues supported by territory expansion

RUA Life Sciences - Billion-dollar markets

RUA Life Sciences is developing products targeting billion-dollar global healthcare markets, which, if successfully commercialised it will generate significant value for the company. The current raise will support the business as it seeks to deliver the growth opportunities within its Contract Manufacturing business unit and commercialise and partner its lead vascular graft products and its heart valve leaflet composite material. We believe the company offers an attractive combination of establi

Fundraising looks well supported

RUA have announced, subject to shareholder approval at a General Meeting, the intention to raise equity via the combination of an institutional placing of shares, a subscription by certain directors and a retail offer. While the minimum gross proceeds are expected to be at least £4.1m, the full amount raised will be fluid until after the retail offer and shareholder approval. The final proceeds raised should be known after the outcome of the Retail Offer is announced on 8 December, and sharehold

4basebio - Interims – scaling to meet anticipated commercial traction

4basebio’s half-year results for the period ended 30 June 2023 reflect continued progress towards its main objective of producing GMP-grade synthetic DNA, with a focus on building out its commercial footprint. It generated revenues of £0.24m (+57%, with all growth coming from the sale of DNA and Hermes™ nanoparticles) with an adjusted net loss of £3.5m (H1 2022: £2.4m, +46%) and period-end cash of £3.6m, having drawn a further €4m from its €23m loan facility that gives it a cash runway into 2025

Morning Note – 1 December 2023

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 05 Dec 23

5th December 2023 @HybridanLLP Status of this Note and Disclaimer This document has been issued to you by Hybridan LLP for information purposes only and should not be construed in any circumstances as an offer to sell or solicitation of any offer to buy any security or other financial instrument, nor shall it, or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract relating to such action. This document has no regard for the specific investment obje

FY23 results: consolidation and cash generation

For the year to 30 September 2023, Benchmark Holdings reported revenue FY23 of £169.6m, +7.5%YoY (currency adjusted +7%YoY) which was 0.7% below our outlook, and adjusted EBITDA of £35.5m, +9%YoY, 5% above our outlook. Net operating cash of £20.0m was almost double FY22 (£10.8m) with a notable improvement in working capital management from £(12.0)m to £(1.0)m underlining efforts to control costs and improve operational efficiency. Net debt was £45.6m, with year-end cash at £36.5m. The Group rep

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 01/12/23

1st December 2023 @HybridanLLP Status of this Note and Disclaimer This document has been issued to you by Hybridan LLP for information purposes only and should not be construed in any circumstances as an offer to sell or solicitation of any offer to buy any security or other financial instrument, nor shall it, or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract relating to such action. This document has no regard for the specific investment obje

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 4 Dec 2023

4th December 2023 @HybridanLLP Status of this Note and Disclaimer This document has been issued to you by Hybridan LLP for information purposes only and should not be construed in any circumstances as an offer to sell or solicitation of any offer to buy any security or other financial instrument, nor shall it, or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract relating to such action. This document has no regard for the specific investment obje

Venture Life Group - Strong cash generation

Venture Life has published its interim results to the end of June 2023, reporting group revenue growth of 24.4% to £23.5m, supported by both VLG brands and Customer brands. Although gross margin was down in the period as anticipated, tight operational cost control delivered improved adjusted EBITDA margin of 18.9% (H1/22A: 17.6%). As in previous years, we expect H2/23E to deliver stronger adjusted EBITDA and maintain our £11.6m FY23 expectation. Significantly, cash flow generation was strong in

Bio-detection becomes a commercial reality

Recent new contracts show that Kromek’s investment in bio-hazard detection technology is becoming a commercial reality. On 26 October the Group received a US$5.9m (£4.84m) contract from the US Department of Homeland Security Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Office - the first for Kromek - to research and develop technologies for agent-agnostic bio-detection. On 31 October Kromek announced 3 more orders for CBRN detection worth a total of US$1.0m (£0.82m), most of which is expected

Trinity Delta Lighthouse: ANGLE

Trinity Delta view: Commercialisation of the Parsortix system is still at an early stage, although momentum is building, and management are continuing to focus on developing the potentially sizeable revenue streams through both ANGLE’s Product and Service offerings. The reality of current market conditions has driven difficult decisions to streamline infrastructure while still enabling investment into developing protocols on third-party molecular systems, and into products and services relevant

One Health Group (OHGR.AQSE) 174p Full Year Results 2023

One Health Group has reported a strong operational and financial performance in its first year as a listed company. Patients seen and procedures carried out experienced strong growth resulting in revenue and profitability coming in ahead of forecasts. The outlook remains positive, and the company offers an attractive combination of defensive growth at an undemanding valuation

LSE AIM Market Screener - 22 June 2023

 The market capitalization of 806 AIM stocks was £89.3bn as of 20 June 2023. FTSE AIM All Share Index was down 5.55% YTD to 785.2 as of 21 June 2023. There were 32 companies delisted from AIM over the period December 2022-June 2023. Among the top YTD winners, there were Celadon Pharmaceuticals (up 209%, MktCap £95m), Vast Resources (+211% YTD, Mkt Cap of £15m), B90 Holdings (+200%, MktCap £22mn), Verditek (154%, MktCap £6mn), Star Phoenix Group (+162%, MktCap $1.6mn), Inspecs Group (+162%, Mk

Encouraging FY23 Trading Update

Abingdon has issued an encouraging trading update, indicating FY23 revenues are expected to be ~£4.0m - up significantly on FY22 and showing very strong sequential growth H-on-H. It is now working on a range of contract services across a number of sectors (all non-Covid), which should support a sustainable revenue base and growth in future years. The pipeline of opportunities is reported to be robust and management expects to report further strong revenue growth in FY24. With cash burn reducing