Melbourne, Australia; 12 December 2018: Starpharma (ASX: SPL, OTCQX: SPHRY) today announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office has granted a patent for SPL7013 ophthalmic drops for viral conjunctivitis. The patent has been granted with broad claims for treating and preventing microbial infections of the eye, including adenoviral conjunctivitis, bacterial conjunctivitis and other eye infections. The patent term is to 2033.

Viral conjunctivitis is the most common cause of infectious conjunctivitis, affecting ~6 million people in the US and ~4 million in Europe each year. The viral conjunctivitis market is estimated to be around US$700M^[1] annually. There are currently no approved therapies for viral conjunctivitis and it remains an area of significant unmet medical need globally.

SPL7013 ophthalmic drops have demonstrated compelling efficacy in animal models of viral conjunctivitis. The drops have shown potent anti-viral activity, decreased infectivity and importantly, they are non-irritating.

Starpharma also recently completed formal independent market research in the US with 18 ophthalmologists, payers and primary care physicians who expressed a high level of interest in Starpharma’s SPL7013 ophthalmic drops. Clinicians interviewed confirmed that the product would address a major unmet need for a viral conjunctivitis therapeutic and described its novel mechanism of action as “compelling”. These clinicians were also impressed by the product’s ability to inhibit the spread of this highly contagious disease.

Dr Jackie Fairley, CEO of Starpharma, commented “We are very pleased with the independent market research findings, with positive responses in 87% of clinicians surveyed. This clinical feedback confirms a high level of interest in Starpharma’s novel therapeutic for adenoviral conjunctivitis.”

This recent progress has generated partnering interest for the product and Starpharma is currently evaluating the optimal development strategy for this novel therapy. SPL7013 is a proprietary dendrimer which is the active ingredient in Starpharma’s VivaGel^® products. Given the extensive preclinical and clinical data already available on SPL7013, there will be significant development advantages both in terms of cost and time.

Download ASX Announcement: US patent granted for SPL7013 eye drops for conjunctivitis (PDF 57kb)

^[1] Roth Capital Partners