Starpharma (ASX:SPL, OTCQX:SPHRY) has signed a drug delivery licence with AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) that could be worth a total US$126 million for the first product and US$93.3 million for each subsequent product.
Under the agreement, AstraZeneca - a £53.3 billion (A$116.9 billion) market cap – will use Starpharma’s DEP drug delivery platform in the development and commercialisation of an oncology compound on signature.
Starpharma will receive a signature payment of US$2 million and is eligible to receive potential development, launch and sales milestones for the first AstraZeneca DEP® product of USD$124 million.
Subsequent qualifying products successfully developed and commercialised to specified annual sales levels could yield up to US$93.3 million in milestone payments each.
AstraZeneca will fund all development and commercialisation costs under the agreement, including ongoing and future collaborative work conducted with Starpharma.
Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for 8.2 million deaths in 2012. The number of new cases is expected to rise by about 70% over the next two decades.
Both pre-clinical and early clinical data have shown DEP versions of drugs to be superior in a variety of ways to the unmodified drugs in currently marketed formulations.
Pre-clinical studies of DEP conjugates with a number of different cancer drugs have already established improved efficacy and reduced toxicities compared to marketed versions.
Starpharma had $30.8 million in cash as at 30th June 2015.
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