Melbourne, Australia; Starpharma Holdings Ltd (ASX: SPL, OTCQX: SPHRY) today released its Appendix 4C – Quarterly Cashflow report for the period ended 31 December 2015.

The cash balance as at 31 December 2015 was $54.7 million, compared with a cash balance of $26.1 million at 30 September.

The increase in cash for the quarter includes the net proceeds of $30.7 million from the share placement completed in December. Since the end of the quarter, the Company has also received a further $1.9 million in proceeds from the Share Purchase Plan. The strong cash balance allows Starpharma to accelerate the development and commercialisation of its drug delivery, VivaGel^®, and agrochemicals programs.

Receipts from partners and grants during the quarter totalled $6.6 million including the R&D tax incentive of $3.4 million associated with the previous financial year’s R&D expenditure. Partner receipts comprised milestones, research fees and royalties, including a US$2 million payment related to the multi-product drug delivery license with AstraZeneca. This represents the first receipt of the potential US$126 million in milestone payments under the license for the initial compound, plus royalties receivable.

During the quarter AstraZeneca also selected a second DEP^TM candidate under the license agreement, with potential milestones of up to US$93 million for this candidate (and other follow-on candidates) plus royalties. AstraZeneca pays for all development costs associated with these programs.

The net operating and investing cash outflows of $1.4 million for the quarter reflect the AstraZeneca receipt, R&D tax incentive and other receipts from partners; offset by expenditure on the Phase 3 clinical trial program for VivaGel^® recurrent BV, the DEP^® docetaxel program and the other programs across Starpharma’s portfolio.

Other highlights during the quarter included:

• the outperformance of a targeted DEP^TM candidate compared with leading treatments in an ovarian cancer model,
• the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with a Chinese company for the VivaGel^® condom in the Chinese government sector; and
• additional patent protection and 7 year extension of term for VivaGel^® BV in the US.

Download ASX Announcement: Appendix 4C - Quarterly Cashflow Report (pdf file, 159kb)