Melbourne Australia; Thursday 3^rd March 2011– Starpharma Holdings Limited (ASX:SPL, OTCQX:SPHRY) has been awarded $250,000 funding to enhance agrochemicals using its Priostar^® dendrimers.

The funding, announced last night by the Minister of Technology, Gordon Rich-Phillips, as part of the Victorian Government’s Small Technologies Industry Uptake Program (STIUP), will allow Starpharma to expand its Melbourne-based agricultural programs, further enhancing the commercial prospects of promising candidates.

Starpharma will be applying its Priostar^® dendrimer technology to improve delivery of agrochemicals to enable healthier plant growth and fight plant disease.  As well as increasing efficacy, improved delivery control of chemicals can reduce both the frequency of application and amount applied.  Such innovations have the potential to reduce farmers’ costs and also reduce environmental impact.

Starpharma’s Priostar^® dendrimers have already shown valuable properties for agrochemicals in previous studies, and the company is currently working with a number of leading agrochemical companies to advance specific commercial opportunities.  This funding will allow Starpharma to independently undertake further agricultural trial work using specialist organizations.

Dr. Jackie Fairley, CEO Starpharma said: “We are delighted to have been selected for this funding.  It will deliver significant benefits to Starpharma’s agrochemical programs, and we would like to express our sincere thanks to the Victorian Government.”

“This funding will allow Starpharma to generate important additional data on several generic agrochemical agents in our own trials.  Successful completion of these trials will represent an important advance in the development of this valuable technology, and will further enhance its commercial value.”

The global market for agricultural chemicals in 2008 was estimated to be US$35.8 billion. This sector is typically considered to comprise insecticides, herbicides and fungicides, all of which are amenable to improvement by Starpharma’s Priostar^® dendrimers.

Starpharma’s technology platform is based on dendrimers; a type of precisely-defined, branched nanoparticle. The technical approach to agricultural applications is an extension of Starpharma’s drug delivery program, in which dendrimers advantageously modify the properties of drug molecules.  Starpharma’s Priostar^® dendrimers which were originally developed by Starpharma’s US subsidiary DNT Inc. are used for these agrochemical applications.

Download ASX Announcement: SPL to expand agricultural program through $250,000 funding ( pdf file, 140kb)