Melbourne Australia;  Starpharma Holdings Ltd (ASX: SPL; OTCQX: SPHRY) today announced it had been successful in securing a $548,000 ARC Linkage grant  in partnership with Monash University, to further advance the Company’s dendrimer technology in targeted drug delivery including antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).

The Australian Research Council (ARC) grant of $548,000 is provided under the ARC’s Linkage Projects scheme. The program will consist of a collaboration between senior scientific personnel at Starpharma and Professor Chris Porter and his group from the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Starpharma CEO Dr Jackie Fairley said: “We are delighted to be a recipient of the ARC Linkage grant, which will support further important research into the use of dendrimers for targeted drug delivery.”

 “Targeted drug delivery using nanoparticles including ADCs is an area of much excitement within the oncology community and significant focus in the pharmaceutical industry. Research to date indicates Starpharma’s dendrimers can play an important role in this field and dendrimers have a number of important advantages in ADCs. This grant will support further investigation of this,” Dr Fairley said.

The market for nanomedicine-based oncology drugs is projected to grow from $5.5 Billion in 2011 to $12.7 Billion in 2016, according to industry estimates. 

“We look forward to advancing this program alongside our established docetaxel program and our multiple drug delivery partnerships with global pharmaceutical companies,” Dr Fairley also said.

Advantages of using dendrimers in targeted delivery such as ADCs include the ability to add a higher ratio of drug to antibody molecule in a well-controlled process. This can provide improved efficacy, the opportunity to use a wider range of oncology drugs, simplify regulatory approval, and reduce cost of goods.

Clinical trials of Starpharma’s dendrimer-docetaxel nanoparticle formulation, an improved version of the blockbuster cancer drug docetaxel are expected to commence later this year. 

Download ASX Announcement: ARC grant for Starpharma's targeted drug delivery (pdf file, 111kb)