Microsoft Word - 150504 - AstraZeneca to develop oncology drug using SPL's DEP technology - FINAL AstraZeneca to develop oncology drug using SPL's DEP™ technology Melbourne, Australia; 4 May 2015: Starpharma Holdings Ltd (ASX: SPL, OTCQX: SPHRY) today announced the signing of an extension to the existing collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca to commence scale up of a dendrimer enhanced oncology molecule ("DEP™ conjugate") for further development.

During 2014 Starpharma and AstraZeneca conducted a series of studies in which Starpharma's

DEP™ drug delivery technology was used to modify a development candidate from

AstraZeneca's cancer pipeline. This program has been successful with key enhancements for the DEP™ conjugate now having been demonstrated by AstraZeneca in animal models. Based on these results AstraZeneca is now conducting further pre-clinical studies with a view to

subsequent commencement of clinical trials, if results of the current work continue to be positive.

"We are delighted that the DEP™ conjugate has performed so well in extensive testing by AstraZeneca over the last year or so" said Dr Jackie Fairley, Chief Executive Officer of Starpharma. "The collaboration has been a very productive one and AstraZeneca has been a tremendous partner. We look forward to working closely with them through the next stage of the program as the DEP™ conjugate is advanced for further development and clinical studies."

Andrew Potts, Project Director from AstraZeneca's Pharmaceutical Development organisation commented: "Combining the great science that's happening in our labs with the most innovative biotech science is an essential part of our plans to deliver the next generation of medicines. This collaboration will enable us to further harness the DEP™ technology supporting our plans to accelerate evaluation of a novel molecule within our oncology portfolio.''

Starpharma uses its DEP™ technology to improve the performance of pharmaceuticals. Both

pre-clinical and early clinical data have shown DEP™ versions of drugs to be superior in a variety of ways to the unmodified drugs. Pre-clinical studies of DEP™ conjugates have already established improved efficacy and reduced toxicities with a number of different cancer drugs. In early results from Starpharma's phase 1 study, DEP™ docetaxel has shown very good tolerability and improved pharmacokinetics. This trial is ongoing and whilst the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) has not yet been reached a number of patients have exhibited potential anti-cancer activity and no neutropenia has been seen to date.


Starpharma Holdings Limited (ASX:SPL, OTCQX:SPHRY), located in Melbourne Australia, is an ASX 300 company and is a world leader in the development of dendrimer products for pharmaceutical, life science and other applications.
Starpharma's underlying technology is built around dendrimers - a type of synthetic nanoscale polymer that is highly regular in size and structure and well suited to pharmaceutical and medical uses. Starpharma has three core development programs: VivaGel® portfolio, DEP™ drug delivery, and agrochemicals with the Company developing a number of products internally and others via commercial partnerships.
Starpharma's lead products are based on VivaGel® (SPL7013, astodrimer sodium), a proprietary dendrimer which is a potent microbicidal agent. VivaGel® formulated as a water based gel and delivered vaginally is under clinical development for the management and prevention of bacterial vaginosis (BV). Starpharma has also signed separate licence agreements with Ansell Limited (ASX:ANN) and Okamoto Industries. Inc., (TSE: JP3192800005) to market a value-added, VivaGel® condom. The VivaGel® condom is available for purchase in Australia under Ansell's Lifestyles® Dual ProtectTM brand. Ansell manufactures and
sells leading condom brands worldwide, including LifeStyles®, ZERO® and SKYN®. Okamoto is the market leader for condoms sold in Japan, which is the world's second largest condom market.
In the wider pharmaceutical and life science fields, Starpharma has both partnered and internal programs in Drug Delivery. Drug Delivery partners include GSK, Lilly and AstraZeneca. A number of dendrimer-enhanced, or DEP™ versions of existing drugs are under development. The most advanced of these is DEP™ docetaxel, a dendrimer-enhanced version of docetaxel (Taxotere®), which is in clinical development. In preclinical studies DEP™ docetaxel has shown significant tumour-targeting and superior anti- cancer effects across a range of important cancer types including breast, prostate, lung and ovarian tumour, when compared to Taxotere® (docetaxel).
In agrochemicals Starpharma has a series of partnerships with leading industry players including global leader Adama (formerly
Makhteshim Agan) as well as internal programs including an enhanced version of glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup®).

Media: Buchan Consulting

Rebecca Wilson
Mob: +61 417 382 391 rwilson@buchanwe.com.au

Starpharma:

Dr Jackie Fairley, Chief Executive Officer
Nigel Baade, CFO and Company Secretary
+61 3 8532 2704 investor.relations@starpharma.comwww.starpharma.com

Forward Looking Statements

This document contains certain forward-looking statements, relating to Starpharma's business, which can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "promising", "plans", "anticipated", "will", "project", "believe", "forecast", "expected", "estimated", "targeting", "aiming", "set to", "potential", "seeking to", "goal", "could provide", "intends", "is being developed", "could be", "on track", or similar expressions, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential filings or marketing approvals, or potential future sales of product candidates. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. There can be no assurance that any existing or future regulatory filings will satisfy the FDA's and other authorities' requirements regarding any one or more product candidates nor can there be any assurance that such product candidates will be approved by any authorities for sale in any market or that they will reach any particular level of sales. In particular, management's expectations regarding the approval and commercialization of the product candidates could be affected by, among other things, unexpected trial results, including additional analysis of existing data, and new data; unexpected regulatory actions or delays, or government regulation generally; our ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection; competition in general; government, industry, and general public pricing pressures; and additional factors that involve significant risks and uncertainties about our products, product candidates, financial results and business prospects. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Starpharma is providing this information as of the date of this document and does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this document as a result of new information, future events or developments or otherwise.

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