Shield Therapeutics (STX): Positioned for growth and profitability

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 generating prescription (Rx) growth and sales traction. Positive momentum in 2H’22 should be accelerated substantially in 2023, with Viatris as its new commercial par

Hardman & Co Monthly: January 2023

Feature article: Hardman & Co Healthcare Index - Review of 2022 The main function of the HHI is to monitor the performance, and to highlight the attractiveness, of life sciences investments over the long term, and to try to identify those stocks that have disruptive technologies that consistently allow them to outperform both the index and the markets. Many of the 53 constituents of the index are high-risk, still being in the development stage, with micro-capitalisations and a long way from sal

Shield Therapeutics - Viatris strategic partnership to expedite scale-up

Shield Therapeutics has announced a co-commercialisation deal for Accrufer in the US with Nasdaq-listed Viatris, which will involve an expanded salesforce and a 55%/45% revenue/cost split between the two companies. Although this is a clear departure from Shield’s stated self-commercialisation strategy in the US, we see merits in the deal, with the combined resources allowing Shield a faster sales ramp-up and quicker time to profitability. The decision coincides with a US$18.5m (£15.1m) equity ra

Prospects transformed with US partnership and debt/equity fundraising

Shield Therapeutics has signed a marketing partnership for Accrufer in the US and has simultaneously secured its funding position via a combined up to $33.5mln equity and debt fundraising. The twin move transforms Shield's prospects and, in our view, should allow it to capture significantly more va

Hybridan Small Cap Feast 13/12/2022

Dish of the day Joiners: Savannah Energy’s (SAVE.L) shares have been re-introduced following a reverse take over in connection with the acquisition of Exxon Mobil Corporation's entire upstream and midstream asset portfolio in Chad and Cameroon. Leavers: No leavers today. What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen?** Celsius Resources intends to join AIM. Currently ASX listed, Celsius is a natural resources exploration and development company principally seeking to explore and develop potential world-clas

Shield Therapeutics - Viatris deal and a new capital raise transform the outlook

Shield Therapeutics has signed a co-promotion and co-marketing agreement with Viatris in the US for Accrufer. STX will receive US$5m upfront and will share revenues 55%/45% with Viatris as both companies equally contribute a 100-person sales force to marketing Accrufer in the US. In addition, STX has announced an additional US$10m convertible bond investment from existing shareholder AOP Health for US$10m and it also plans to raise US$18m (c.£14.7m) in a placing with up to a further £3.9m in an

The Hardman & Co Monthly: November 2022

Feature article: A different kind of beat: Boyzone, 1996 Quoted company engagement with retail investors – a new world This month's feature article has been written in collaboration with The Quoted Companies Alliance. Introduction: Retail investors used to be the second-class citizens of the stock market. The bulk of their money was held in funds or pension schemes where a professional took all the decisions and where they owned only a tiny part of the equity market directly. They also tended

The Hardman & Co Monthly: October 2022

Feature article: A glass half-empty view of markets - The 20s harder than the last decade This month’s feature article is written by Steve Clapham, who gives his view on the outlook for markets. He sets out one side of the current debate in markets. Steve is admirably experienced to express an opinion. Steve is the founder of Behind the Balance Sheet, an investor training consultancy. He qualified as a chartered accountant before moving into investment banking as an analyst in the 1980s. In

Shield Therapeutics (STX): Accrufer momentum building

Shield Therapeutics (Shield) is a commercial-stage pharma company delivering specialty products that address patients’ unmet medical needs, with an initial focus on iron deficiency (ID). Following launch of Accrufer® in the US, in July 2021, the initial challenge was to greatly improve market awareness of its differentiating features as an oral ID drug. Although the initial uptake was slower than anticipated, there are clear signs in the 1H’22 results that momentum is building. During 2H’22, man

Early exponential indications

Shield Therapeutics reported H1FY22 sales and royalties of £2mln from its fully approved, patented, oral iron product, Accrufer. Sales of £1.2mln were from the growing US market with a further £0.7mln in Norgine royalties, the European licensee. A £0.1mln Canadian licence fee made £2mln.The key thi

Shield Therapeutics - Tangible progress in US Accrufer launch

Shield Therapeutics reported H122 results reflecting the fact that its commercial activities for Accrufer are bearing fruit. US total prescriptions soared fourfold to 11,223 compared to H221, including an 87% q-o-q increase in Q222. This compares well with our existing and unchanged forecast for 26,700 prescriptions for 2022. We maintain our long-term Accrufer growth assumptions, and continued successful execution could lead to material upside in the shares, in our view, but we reiterate that Sh

Morning Note – 8 September 2022

Shield Therapeutics - Interims – evidence of building momentum in US

Interim results to 30 June showed encouraging progress, in the US in particular. An adjusted net loss of £10.3m (vs. -£6.1m) on the back of £2.0m revenues (vs. £0.5m) reflected the increase in US sales and marketing costs. However, key metrics to illustrate the ramp up in Accrufer sales, albeit from low levels (+350% increase in prescriptions written compared to H2 2022; a broadening of new prescribers and introductions to healthcare providers and a 350% increase in net selling price), indicate

The Hardman & Co Monthly: September 2022

Feature article: Macro issues dominate investor sentiment - Some basics for investors The big topics in the investment world at the moment seem to be macroeconomic. With that in mind, we thought it would be useful to revisit some of the basics of the terms being used in the current environment, and to remind investors of the things to look out for (indeed, many younger investors may not have come across some of these influences in their investing lifetime): • Recession does not affect

The Hardman & Co Monthly: August 2022

Feature article: Utility regulation – Changes afoot - Patching up a tainted model While the gas supply crisis – and its price implications – have dominated the UK price regulated sectors in recent months, other issues have arisen that have seriously tainted the price regulation system itself. Indeed, it is fair to ask whether it is ‘’fit for purpose’’. Back in 1984, price regulation, via an unsophisticated RPI-x formula, was introduced to prevent the privatised British Telecom (BT) from abusin

Positive full year update highlights upside risk

VLG has reported a positive year end update after a strong Q4 performance, particularly across its Customer Brands division. The team at Biokosmes delivered an exceptional year, helping to protect key customers against the ongoing supply chain difficulties. This performance puts VLG on track to at least deliver FY profit expectations, and we have upgraded FY22 EPS by 5.5%. While we make no changes to FY23 forecasts at this stage, on balance we see risk to the upside. On just 5.0x EV/EBITDA, and

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 25 Jan 23

25 January 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 object

Kromek - Interim results – strong revenue growth

Kromek reported interim results with revenues up 44% to £6.8m, an EBITDA loss of £2.7m and period-end cash of £1.0m. A record order book and good visibility over our FY 2023 revenue forecast of £18m (c.91% of which 84% is already contracted or shipped) should still deliver a positive EBITDA in H2, but given inflationary cost pressures and a negative FX impact on translated US costs, it is unlikely to offset the H1 loss as previously anticipated. We reduce FY 2023 EBITDA and PBT by £2.4m and £2.8

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 17 Jan 23

17 January 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 object

Morning Note – 31 January 2023

Tissue Regenix - Initiation of coverage – positive FY 22 trading update

Tissue Regenix is a commercial-stage regenerative medicine business with a broad range of products targeting large addressable markets in orthopaedics/sports medicine, biosurgery and dental. Its differentiated product portfolio is underpinned by two proprietary processing technologies (BioRinse® and dCELL®) that deal with the repair or replacement of bone and soft tissue (e.g. skin, tendons). Its last trading update was positive, indicating 24% (26% CER) revenue growth in 2022 and a move into EB

Confirming further upgrades post positive update

At the trading update earlier this week, NIOX indicated FY22 EBITDA would be around £7.0m, ~15% ahead of already upgraded expectations, with net cash coming in at £19.4m. This was driven by 15% underlying revenue growth, improved gross margins on mix and ongoing operational efficiencies. We formally update our estimates in this note, increasing our FY22 PBT/EPS forecast by 20% but, prudently, leaving FY23/24 unchanged for now. The outlook remains positive with latent growth potential in the US a

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 23 Jan 23

23 January 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 object

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 19 Jan 23

19 January 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 object

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 30 Jan 23

30 January 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 object

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 20 Jan 23

20 January 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 object

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 26 Jan 23

26 January 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 object

SHORE CAPITAL - Oxford BioDynamics+ (OBD) - House Stock at 15p

Cenkos: RUA Life Sciences Plc -- Vascular graft distribution agreement

RUA Life Sciences has signed a global distribution agreement with Corcym, a medical device company focussed on treating heart conditions. The agreement will cover the distribution of RUA's large bore straight and aortic root grafts, for which RUA is currently working towards gaining FDA clearance. We expect RUA's grafts to be complementary to Corcym's existing product portfolio which is sold in over 100 countries. The agreement establishes global distribution for the vascular grafts and validate

Successful completion of POLB 001 LPS challenge trial

POLB announces today that it has now received the initial results having completed the Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) human challenge clinical trial for POLB 001, a viral strain agnostic, small molecule immunomodulator being developed to address the unmet medical need for severe influenza. Importantly POLB was safe and well tolerated and the team will be able to use this dataset as part of their discussions with potential partners at the annual JPMorgan Conference in January 2023. The full read out of