On 23 September we were delighted to host our second Life Sciences Investor Forum. The online webinar featured presentations from the managements of three companies: Diurnal Group (DNL.L), Incanthera (INC.L) and Shield Therapeutics (STX.L). These presentations were proceeded by a short introduction to the global pharmaceutical industry by our specialist analyst, Dr Martin Hall.
The introduction by Martin focused in on the increasing contribution to the global market that is being made by drugs for rare diseases and specialty pharmaceuticals, areas historically ignored by the major industry players. This led nicely into the three investment opportunities, as all three companies are at interesting valuation inflection points. Diurnal has just received European approval and launched its second product for lifelong conditions requiring cortisol replacement therapy. Shield has recently embarked upon a go-it-alone strategy to commercialise Accrufer® in the US market as an alternative to existing iron replacement therapies while Incanthera is in discussion with two major global cosmetics companies to out-licence Sol for the consumer market, for preventing skin keratoses advancing to skin cancer.
All three companies provided investors with much-needed assurance that, despite heightened risks in the past 12 months, there are growth opportunities ready to propel these businesses forward. We look forward to reporting on their progress.
Missed this Forum? Not to worry – download the presentations below and catch up with recordings of each session. If you would like to watch the full event, please head over to our YouTube channel here.
Diurnal Group plc is a European, UK-headquartered, specialty pharma company targeting patient needs in chronic, potentially life-threatening, endocrine (hormonal) diseases. Alkindi® has been approved and launched in both the EU and the US, and Efmody® has been approved recently by the EU and is being prepared for launch.
CEO, Martin Whitaker, answered questions on the business growth and M&A plans for Diurnal’s portfolio as well the commercial rights to Chronocort® in the US and the expected changes when the drug is de-risked.
Diurnal Group research note | Diurnal Group slide pack
Incanthera Ltd is a UK-based specialist oncology and dermatology company. Its main focus is on a value-added proprietary formulation sun cream, Sol, that prevents skin cancers. It also owns a novel, targeted drug delivery platform which delivers cytotoxic warheads directly to cancer cells, in the expectation of improving clinical outcomes with fewer side effects.
The management team from Incanthera shared their thoughts on moving from Aquis Exchange to AIM, talked through plans for the Sol licensing deal and provided an update on Ellipses Pharma.
Incanthera research note | Incanthera slide pack
Shield Therapeutics plc is a de-risked pharmaceutical company with a lead product, Feraccru®/Accrufer®, approved in Europe and the US for the treatment of iron deficiency in adults. Outside the US, the strategy is to use distribution and commercialisation partners in return for royalties and sales milestones. In the US, Shield has just started its own commercialisation programme.
Shield’s CEO, Greg Madison, answered questions ranging from the performance of Norgine B.V. to the US launch and, in particular, the sales growth of Accrufer®.
Shield Therapeutics research note | Shield Therapeutics slide pack
Dr Martin Hall’s keynote speech provided an update on the global pharmaceutical market and how specialty drugs, focused on rare diseases, have been able to establish a niche position within an industry dominated by the major players.
An overview of the pharmaceutical industry
The investor pack from the Forum, featuring speaker bios and all the research notes in one place, is available here. Please sign up here if you would like to join our mailing list for Hardman Talks events and future Forums.
