• Starpharma advances a new internal DEP^® candidate, DEP^® gemcitabine, into development
• DEP^® gemcitabine demonstrated significantly enhanced anti-tumour activity compared with Gemzar^® (gemcitabine), both alone and in combination with Nab‑paclitaxel (Abraxane^®), in a human pancreatic cancer model
• Gemzar^® (gemcitabine), used alone or in combination with Abraxane^®, is the current standard of care therapy for pancreatic cancer
• A patent has been filed for Starpharma’s proprietary DEP^® gemcitabine, providing coverage to 2040

Melbourne, Australia: Starpharma (ASX: SPL, OTCQX: SPHRY) today announced results for its next internal development candidate, DEP^® gemcitabine.

Starpharma’s proprietary DEP^® gemcitabine demonstrated significantly enhanced anti‑tumour activity compared with Gemzar^® (gemcitabine), both alone and in combination with Nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane^®) in a preclinical human pancreatic cancer model. This data has formed the basis of a new patent application, which will provide coverage over DEP^® gemcitabine to 2040. DEP^® gemcitabine is one of several internal DEP^® candidates under preclinical development by Starpharma.

DEP^® gemcitabine is a DEP^® version of Lilly’s Gemzar^® (gemcitabine) - a well-established anti-cancer drug, which had peak sales of US$1.7 billion. Gemzar^® (gemcitabine) is one of the leading chemotherapeutic drugs used to treat pancreatic cancer. It can be administered as a monotherapy or in combination with other therapies such as Abraxane^®.

DEP^® gemcitabine demonstrated significantly improved anti-tumour activity, compared to Gemzar^®, the standard form of gemcitabine, in the human pancreatic cancer xenograft model (p<0.0001). When used in combination with Abraxane^®, DEP^® gemcitabine significantly outperformed a combination of Gemzar^® (gemcitabine) and Abraxane (p<0.005).