Shield Therapeutics (STX) has placed c 83m shares at a deep discount (30.0p/share) to the market price, resulting in a gross raise of £25m. The funds will be utilised to support the US launch and commercialisation of Accrufer (iron deficiency), and thus clarify the strategy in this territory for its key asset. STX will now focus on establishing its US-based operations ahead of imminent launch of the product (launch stocks are ready to be shipped). Our higher valuation reflects the retention of full economics vs our prior out-licensing assumption, and we now forecast STX launch in the US in Q221 vs 2022 previously. Following the raise, the main risk relates to sales execution. However, we see significant upside given that the current share price fully discounts the US opportunity. We value STX at £471.4m.
