Clonmel-based Shorla Oncology to increase revenues significantly
Ms Sharon Cunningham was commenting on new accounts for the Clonmel-headquartered Shorla Pharma Ltd which show that the group recorded a pre-tax loss of €8.07m in 2023 as the business continued in its development phase.
The pre-tax loss of €8.07m followed a pre-tax loss of €6.2m in 2022.
Last year, Sharon Cunningham and Orlaith Ryan, from Shorla Oncology, were named 2024 EY Entrepreneurs Of The Year.
At the time, Ms Cunningham said: 'Our business is very capital intensive in the product development phase.
It takes several years to develop and commercialise pharmaceutical drugs to start generating revenue and realise a return
Ms Cunningham said that the company is currently conducting another round of fundraising after having already raised $45m.
The accounts show that the company recorded its first revenues in 2023 at €2.49m, and Ms Cunningham said: 'There was a significant increase in revenues in 2024, and we expect another significant increase in revenues this year.'
The company's research and development spend increased from €2.12m to €3.26m in 2023.
Ms Cunningham said: 'We are very pleased with the progress of our business, and we are exactly where we planned to be and want to be from a revenue and pipeline progression perspective."
US market
Ms Cunningham said that the company has currently four FDA approved medicines for the US market and launched the fourth of those this week in the US.
The firm also has a US office at Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Ms Cunningham is based, and she said that the medicines include treatments for breast and ovarian cancer and leukaemia.
The Waterford native said that numbers employed now total 45, adding that she expects employee numbers to increase further this year.
In accounts signed off on March 13, they show that a capital injection of €28.45m in 2023 resulted in the company having shareholder funds of €17.12m at the end of 2023.
Cash funds increased from €4.73m to €14.49m. A note attached to the accounts states that the company meets its day-to-day working capital requirements through existing cash resources and from future funding.
A separate note states that 'the projections indicate that additional funding will be required in 2026, and assume that the company will successfully obtain such funding'.
Asked on the impact of winning the EY Entrepreneur of the Year for 2024, Ms Cunningham said that it has been "phenomenal".
She said: 'It's extremely beneficial to have access to such a dynamic group of successful entrepreneurs and winning the competition overall has provided validation and further credibility of our business."
Ms Cunningham said that the company will be representing Ireland in the world EY Entrepreneur of the year competition in Monaco in June.
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