Melbourne, Australia; 9 December 2015: Starpharma Holdings Limited (ASX: SPL; OTCQX:SPHRY) is pleased to announce it has raised A$32 million via a placement to domestic and international institutional, sophisticated and professional investors (“Placement”). Eligible shareholders will also have the opportunity to participate, at the same price, through a Share Purchase Plan (SPP) which will raise up to a further A$3 million.
The Placement was significantly oversubscribed with strong demand from new domestic and international funds as well as existing institutional shareholders. It was conducted at $0.73 per share, representing a 6.4% discount to the last closing price prior to SPL shares going into a Trading Halt on Monday 7 December 2015 (A$0.78 per share).
The funds raised will support advancement of the business, including the DEPTM docetaxel Phase 2 clinical program and the acceleration of further DEPTM drug delivery candidates into the clinic. The funds will also support the licensing, approvals and launches of the VivaGel® BV symptomatic relief product and the completion of the Phase 3 trials of VivaGel® for prevention of recurrent bacterial vaginosis (BV) which are well advanced.
Starpharma Chief Executive Officer Dr Jackie Fairley said: “Starpharma’s portfolio of products has matured substantially over the last few years this funding places the company in a strong position to accelerate the commercialisation of our technologies with the advancement of the clinical programs of DEP™ docetaxel, entry of new DEP™ candidates into the clinic and the licensing and launch of VivaGel® BV.
“This accelerated program also strongly positions the company to capture the growing partner interest in our portfolio by global pharmaceutical and healthcare companies and it follows the recent licensing agreement with AstraZeneca in the DEPTM platform.
“As a result of the Placement, we welcome a major new domestic institutional shareholder onto the register as well as several new local and international funds. We also acknowledge the support from our existing institutions and retail shareholders. Retail shareholders can subscribe for new shares at the same price without incurring brokerage costs, in the forthcoming share purchase plan.”
Bell Potter Securities Limited and Canaccord Genuity acted as Joint Lead Managers to the Placement.
Share Purchase Plan
The SPP will offer all eligible shareholders the opportunity to subscribe up to a maximum of A$15,000 of shares at the same Placement price of A$0.73 per share. The amount to be raised under the SPP is capped at A$3 million.
The record date for participation in the SPP is 7:00pm (Melbourne time) on 8 December 2015 and the opening date of the SPP will be Wednesday 16 December 2015. Full details will be sent to investors in the coming days.
Use of funds
The combined A$35 million being raised under the Placement and the SPP will allow the company to fund advancement across all areas of the business including:
• Phase 2 clinical program for DEP® docetaxel;
• Accelerate further DEP® drug delivery candidates into preclinical and Phase 1 trials;
• The commercialisation of VivaGel® BV for symptomatic relief and the VivaGel® condom, including product and launch working capital;
• Complete Phase 3 trials of VivaGel® for prevention of recurrence of BV;
• Commercialisation of agrochemical products; and
• Provide working capital and strengthen the balance sheet to support commercial negotiations underway for various products.
About Starpharma
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 has antimicrobial properties. VivaGel® formulated as a water based gel and delivered vaginally now has EU regulatory approval for topical treatment and rapid relief of bacterial vaginosis (BV) and is under clinical development for the prevention of recurrent 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 field, Starpharma has both partnered and internal programs in Drug Delivery. A number of dendrimer-enhanced, or DEPTM versions of existing drugs are under development. The most advanced of these is DEPTM docetaxel, a dendrimer-enhanced version of docetaxel (Taxotere®), which is in clinical development in patients with solid tumours. In preclinical studies DEPTM 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). AstraZeneca has signed a licensing agreement with Starpharma for the use of its DEPTM drug delivery platform in the development and commercialisation of an AstraZeneca oncology compound, with potential for follow on compounds directed at a defined family of targets.
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®). For more information please visit: www.starpharma.com
The Placement was significantly oversubscribed with strong demand from new domestic and international funds as well as existing institutional shareholders. It was conducted at $0.73 per share, representing a 6.4% discount to the last closing price prior to SPL shares going into a Trading Halt on Monday 7 December 2015 (A$0.78 per share).
The funds raised will support advancement of the business, including the DEPTM docetaxel Phase 2 clinical program and the acceleration of further DEPTM drug delivery candidates into the clinic. The funds will also support the licensing, approvals and launches of the VivaGel® BV symptomatic relief product and the completion of the Phase 3 trials of VivaGel® for prevention of recurrent bacterial vaginosis (BV) which are well advanced.
Starpharma Chief Executive Officer Dr Jackie Fairley said: “Starpharma’s portfolio of products has matured substantially over the last few years this funding places the company in a strong position to accelerate the commercialisation of our technologies with the advancement of the clinical programs of DEP™ docetaxel, entry of new DEP™ candidates into the clinic and the licensing and launch of VivaGel® BV.
“This accelerated program also strongly positions the company to capture the growing partner interest in our portfolio by global pharmaceutical and healthcare companies and it follows the recent licensing agreement with AstraZeneca in the DEPTM platform.
“As a result of the Placement, we welcome a major new domestic institutional shareholder onto the register as well as several new local and international funds. We also acknowledge the support from our existing institutions and retail shareholders. Retail shareholders can subscribe for new shares at the same price without incurring brokerage costs, in the forthcoming share purchase plan.”
Bell Potter Securities Limited and Canaccord Genuity acted as Joint Lead Managers to the Placement.
Share Purchase Plan
The SPP will offer all eligible shareholders the opportunity to subscribe up to a maximum of A$15,000 of shares at the same Placement price of A$0.73 per share. The amount to be raised under the SPP is capped at A$3 million.
The record date for participation in the SPP is 7:00pm (Melbourne time) on 8 December 2015 and the opening date of the SPP will be Wednesday 16 December 2015. Full details will be sent to investors in the coming days.
Use of funds
The combined A$35 million being raised under the Placement and the SPP will allow the company to fund advancement across all areas of the business including:
• Phase 2 clinical program for DEP® docetaxel;
• Accelerate further DEP® drug delivery candidates into preclinical and Phase 1 trials;
• The commercialisation of VivaGel® BV for symptomatic relief and the VivaGel® condom, including product and launch working capital;
• Complete Phase 3 trials of VivaGel® for prevention of recurrence of BV;
• Commercialisation of agrochemical products; and
• Provide working capital and strengthen the balance sheet to support commercial negotiations underway for various products.
About Starpharma
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 has antimicrobial properties. VivaGel® formulated as a water based gel and delivered vaginally now has EU regulatory approval for topical treatment and rapid relief of bacterial vaginosis (BV) and is under clinical development for the prevention of recurrent 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 field, Starpharma has both partnered and internal programs in Drug Delivery. A number of dendrimer-enhanced, or DEPTM versions of existing drugs are under development. The most advanced of these is DEPTM docetaxel, a dendrimer-enhanced version of docetaxel (Taxotere®), which is in clinical development in patients with solid tumours. In preclinical studies DEPTM 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). AstraZeneca has signed a licensing agreement with Starpharma for the use of its DEPTM drug delivery platform in the development and commercialisation of an AstraZeneca oncology compound, with potential for follow on compounds directed at a defined family of targets.
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®). For more information please visit: www.starpharma.com
