Melbourne, Australia: Starpharma Holdings Ltd (ASX: SPL, OTCQX: SPHRY) today announced the selection of Mr Robert Thomas for appointment to the Board as a non-executive director.  He will be appointed in December 2013 and will assume the role of Chairman mid-year when Mr Peter Bartels retires as part of a deliberate succession plan and board renewal.

Mr Thomas has a strong background in financial services and is a non executive director on a number of listed companies in Australia and the United States.  He has more than 35 years’ experience in the securities industry with Potter Partners (now UBS), County Natwest and Citigroup. He is currently Chairman of TAL Limited (formerly Tower Australia Limited), Gragher Capital Securities and the NSW State Library.

He is the immediate past non-executive Chairman of HeartWare Limited and remains a non-executive director of that company.  He is also a director of ASX listed REVA Medical Inc., Virgin Australia Limited and Biotron Limited.  He holds a Bachelor of Economics from Monash University and is a fellow of the Securities Institute of Australia.  He is also a Master Stockbroker and is a Fellow of the Institute of Company Directors.

Commenting on his decision to join the Starpharma Board, Rob Thomas said:  "I have been following Starpharma for some time and have been watching their recent progress with great interest.  I am enthusiastic about the commercial potential of the company's technology and welcome the opportunity to become involved with the company.  I look forward to working with CEO Jackie Fairley and the other members of the Board.”

Chairman Mr Peter Bartels said:  “Rob is an excellent candidate for the chairman’s position and we look forward to welcoming him to the Board and the broader Starpharma family.  His deep financial experience combined with a very solid understanding of the global healthcare environment will be highly complementary to the existing Board.”

Peter Bartels will retire as Chairman and non-executive director of the Company in mid-2014.

Mr Bartels joined Starpharma in 2003 and he has overseen a period of significant development.  Starpharma’s product portfolio has matured with a number of near term commercial products, and value of the Company’s dendrimer platform has grown significantly with the application to multiple products across pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries.

“Starpharma has developed from a budding technology company with a collection of high-potential patents to, today, a company with an international profile, an extensive portfolio of clinical stage products, commercial partnerships and approaching commercialisation of our lead product VivaGel®,” Mr Bartels said.

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