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- Starpharma (SPL) releases its full-year results for FY21, with the period highlighted by the continued success of VIRALEZE
- In FY21, VIRALEZE showed 99.9 per cent antiviral activity against the Alpha, Beta and Gamma COVID variants, and 99.99 antiviral activity against Delta
- VIRALEZE is now available across LloydsPharcy stores in the UK and other European countries via its product webstore
- For the year ending June 30, 2021, Starpharma tabled total revenue of $2.15 million, down 67 per cent over the prior corresponding period
- Starpharma is down 2.36 per cent on the market with shares trading at $1.24 at 12:06 pm AEST
Starpharma (SPL) has released its full-year results for FY21 with the period highlighted by the continued success of VIRALEZE.
VIRALEZE is Starpharma’s nasal spray which contains SPL7013 and works by slowing down the infection of host cells when applied to cells before and after exposure to the virus.
From there it blocks the interaction between viral surface proteins and human cell receptor proteins.
Activities
Viraleze
On March 25, Starpharma signed a sales and distribution agreement with LloydsPharmacy for VIRALEZE.
LloydsPharmacy is one of the UK’s pharmacy groups and the product is now available both in-store and online.
VIRALEZE was then launched in other European countries in May 2021 via its product webstore.
In mid-June, VIRALEZE showed 99.9 per cent antiviral activity against the Alpha, Beta and Gamma SARS-CoV-2 variants, and 99.99 per cent antiviral activity against the Delta variant a month later.
Studies also demonstrated strong antiviral activity of SPL7013 against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza.
CEO Jackie Fairley commented on VIRALEZE and the success
“The company is extremely proud to have developed, registered and launched VIRALEZE ahead of schedule and in time for it to play a role in the evolving situation in Europe,” Dr Fairley said.
“We were pleased to launch the product in the UK via LloydsPharmacy and online in other parts of Europe. VIRALEZE is now also registered in India and available online to consumers in multiple regions.”
DEP Drug Delivery
In February, AstraZeneca expanded the clinical program for AZD0466 in patients with acute leukaemia.
The phase two DEP irinotecan trial is progressing well with multiple patients showing impressive tumour shrinkage and a reduction in tumour marker levels for multiple tumour types.
Progress is also continuing for the DEP docetaxel and DEP cabazitaxel trials with multiple patients also reporting prolonged stable disease and significant tumour shrinkage.
Partnerships are also continuing with Chinese pharmaceutical company Chase Sun and Merck & Co.
“Despite the impact of the unrelenting global pandemic, Starpharma was able to continue to recruit into our three DEP phase two clinical programs and achieve a number of important commercial milestones across the business,” Dr Fairley said.
“Internally, each of our three phase two clinical trials for DEP docetaxel, DEP cabazitaxel and DEP irinotecan continued to recruit well despite the impact of COVID-19.”
VivaGel
Starpharma’s VivaGel BV achieved Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approval for an expansion of marketing authorisation for the prevention of bacterial vaginosis.
It was then launched in the Nordic region and regulatory approvals were received for countries in Africa and the Middle East.
Finances
For the year ending June 30, 2021, Starpharma tabled total revenue of $2.15 million, down 67 per cent over the prior corresponding period (pcp).
This decrease reflects the AstraZeneca $4.33 million development milestone achieved in the previous year.
Loss after tax amounted to $19.73 million, up 34 per cent from the pcp.
This reflects clinical trial expenditure and spending associated with the development and commercialisation of VIRALEZE.
Starpharma ended the financial year with a cash balance of $60.5 million.
Starpharma was down 2.36 per cent on the market with shares trading at $1.24 at 12:06 pm AEST.
