In good news for Starpharma Holdings Ltd (ASX:SPL, OTCQX:SPHRY) shareholders, the company has registered strong support for its capital raising and share purchase plan, including funding from small cap investor, Acorn Capital.
The company raised $7.1 million at 26 cents per share from a share placement to sophisticated investors and completion of a share purchase plan.
Dr Jackie Fairley, CEO of Starpharma said, “These additional funds place the company in a very strong financial position and build upon the recently announced drug delivery deal with animal health company Elanco. This is a period of increasing commercial momentum for Starpharma.”
Starpharma’s lead product is VivaGel, a gel-based formulation of a nano-pharmaceutical under development as a vaginal microbicide to prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV and genital herpes.
The company has progressed to commercialising its technology suite with its recent deals with Elanco (part of Eli Lilly and Company), that follows the company’s deal last September for a VivaGel® coated condom with SSL International, the marketers of Durex®. The coated condom deal is estimated to be worth in excess of $100 million to Starpharma.
VivaGel has been awarded US$20.3 million by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to progress the development for HIV.
In the Elanco deal, Eli Lilly and Starpharma will collaborate to develop new animal health products with enhanced properties using Starpharma’s dendrimer technology. Under the agreement, Starpharma will receive revenue from research fees, and is eligible for milestone payments and royalties on sale of any product developed.
Farley added, “The Elanco deal is the most recent example of Starpharma’s strategy of partnering our dendrimer technology widely, allowing us to commercially exploit our technology across a range of markets to maximum effect”.