Shield Therapeutics plc
("Shield" or the "Group")
Board Change
London, UK, 14th September 2017: Shield Therapeutics plc (LSE:STX), a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on secondary care, announces that Joanne Estell, has resigned her Board position and as Chief Financial Officer ("CFO") and Company Secretary to pursue other business interests outside the healthcare sector.
A search process for a new CFO has commenced and the Board has appointed Dr Karl Keegan as interim Chief Financial Officer with immediate effect. Dr Keegan has a background of senior financial positions in the specialty pharmaceutical sector and in his previous capacity as Director of Corporate Development, has worked closely with Joanne, Shield's Leadership Team and the Board on all aspects of the Group's operations and strategy development. They will work together through to the end of October to deliver a smooth and effective transition.
Dr Keegan has previously held CFO positions at Pharma Group NV, and Minster Pharmaceuticals plc, as well as managerial roles at SmithKline Beecham (now GlaxoSmithKline). Dr Keegan also spent over 12 years as a sell-side analyst at UBS, Bank of America, Canaccord, and Dresdner Kleinworth Benson.
Carl Sterritt, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Shield Therapeutics, said: "On behalf of the Board, I thank Joanne for her contributions to the growth of Shield as a publicly listed company, particularly her role in the recent financing. We are fortunate and pleased to be able to appoint Karl as interim CFO. He is a well-qualified and suitably sector-experienced internal successor to Joanne and we look forward to working with Karl on Shield's continued success. We look forward to updating investors on recent progress within the business on 20 September when we publish our interim results."
For further information please contact:
Shield Therapeutics plc +44 (0)207 186 8500
Carl Sterritt, Chief Executive Officer
Karl Keegan, 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
US Investor Relations
Lazar Partners +1 (212) 867 1762
Fern Lazar/ David Carey
About Shield Therapeutics plc
Shield Therapeutics is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the commercialisation and development of late-stage, hospital-focused pharmaceuticals which address areas of unmet medical need. 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 anaemia (IDA) in adult patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) which has exclusive IP rights until the mid-2030's. Shield Therapeutics, headquartered in London, is listed on LSE's AIM under the ticker STX. For more information please visit www.shieldtherapeutics.com.
About Feraccru®
Feraccru is Shield's lead product and is a novel therapy for the treatment of IDA. Feraccru received marketing authorisation across Europe in February 2016 for the treatment of IDA in adult patients with IBD and is in the early stages of commercialisation in European markets. The Group is currently completing a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of Feraccru in IDA patients with pre-dialysis CKD and expects to announce results of this study around the turn of the year. A positive result is expected to facilitate the filing of an NDA for Feraccru in the US as well as significantly broader commercialisation in Europe and beyond.