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Abstract:
Starpharma Holdings Limited (ASX:SPL, OTCQX:SPHRY) today commented on results of a study which showed that men were three times more likely to contract HIV from their female partners if the women also had bacterial vaginosis (BV) in the three months before the men became infected.

Partners of Bacterial Vaginosis sufferers at increased risk of HIV

Melbourne, Australia | Posted on July 20th, 2011

The findings1 were reported at the International HIV/AIDS Conference in Rome yesterday by researchers led by Professor Craig Cohen from the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco.

This study is the first to demonstrate an association between BV in HIV infected female partners and their risk of HIV transmission to their male partners.

Several previous studies have demonstrated an increased risk of HIV acquisition in females with BV, including one study that indicated more than 30% of HIV infections in women could be prevented if BV was successfully treated.

Starpharma CEO Jackie Fairley said: "Professor Craig Cohen has previously led a clinical study of Starpharma's VivaGel®, and we congratulate him and his team on this important finding. This very interesting finding is relevant to Starpharma's bacterial vaginosis program for VivaGel®, both for acute treatment and also for the important prevention of recurrence application. No doubt this finding will further increase interest in bacterial vaginosis, both for consumers and in a public health sense."

VivaGel® was recently shown in a phase 2 study to successfully treat BV and planning for phase 3 studies is underway. An additional phase 2 study is anticipated to commence in Q3 2011 to investigate VivaGel® for prevention of recurrence of BV.

1. "Association of bacterial vaginosis with female-to-male HIV-1 transmission among HIV-1 discordant couples in Sub-Saharan Africa."

C.R. Cohen, J.R. Lingappa, J.M. Baeten, M.O. Ngayo, C.A. Spiegel, T. Hong, D. Donnell, C. Celum, S. Kapiga, S. Delany, E.A. Bukusi, Partners in Prevention HSV/HIV Transmission Study Team.

Presented by Craig R Cohen at the 6th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention.

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About Starpharma Holdings Limited
Starpharma Holdings Limited (ASX:SPL, OTCQX:SPHRY) is a world leader in the development of dendrimer technology for pharmaceutical, life-science and other applications. SPL has two operating companies, Starpharma Pty Ltd in Melbourne, Australia and DNT, Inc in the USA. Products based on SPL’s dendrimer technology are already on the market in the form of diagnostic elements and laboratory reagents through licence arrangements with partners including Siemens and Merck KGaA.

The Company’s lead pharmaceutical development product is VivaGel® (SPL7013 Gel), a vaginal microbicide designed to prevent the transmission of STIs, including HIV, genital herpes and bacterial vaginosis. Starpharma has a licence agreement with Durex® condom manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser to develop a VivaGel®-coated condom, and a licence agreement with Okamoto Industries Inc in relation to the VivaGel®-coated condom for the Japanese market. Okamoto is the market leader for condoms sold in Japan, the world’s second largest condom market.

Starpharma also has agreements in place with Lilly, Elanco, Stiefel Laboratories (a GSK Company), and Siemens Healthcare as well as many research collaborations with some of the world’s leading organisations in the fields of pharmaceuticals, drug delivery, cosmetics and agrochemicals.

Dendrimer: A type of precisely-defined, branched nanoparticle. Dendrimers have applications in the medical, electronics, chemicals and materials industries.

American Depositary Receipts (ADRs): Starpharma’s ADRs trade under the code SPHRY (CUSIP number 855563102). Each Starpharma ADR is equivalent to 10 ordinary shares of Starpharma as traded on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). The Bank of New York Mellon is the depositary bank. Starpharma’s ADRs are listed on International OTCQX, a premium market tier in the U.S. for international exchange-listed companies, operated by OTC Markets Group Inc. (www.otcmarkets.com).

Forward Looking Statements

This document contains certain forward-looking statements, relating to Starpharma’s business, which can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “promising”, “plans”, “anticipated”, “will”, “project”, “believe”, “forecast”, “expected”, “estimated”, “targeting”, “aiming”, “set to”, “potential”, “seeking to”, “goal”, “could provide”, “intends”, “is being developed”, “could be”, “on track”, or similar expressions, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential filings or marketing approvals, or potential future sales of product candidates. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. There can be no assurance that any existing or future regulatory filings will satisfy the FDA’s and other health authorities’ requirements regarding any one or more product candidates nor can there be any assurance that such product candidates will be approved by any health authorities for sale in any market or that they will reach any particular level of sales. In particular, management’s expectations regarding the approval and commercialization of the product candidates could be affected by, among other things, unexpected clinical trial results, including additional analysis of existing clinical data, and new clinical data; unexpected regulatory actions or delays, or government regulation generally; our ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection; competition in general; government, industry, and general public pricing pressures; and additional factors that involve significant risks and uncertainties about our products, product candidates, financial results and business prospects. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Starpharma is providing this information as of the date of this document and does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this document as a result of new information, future events or developments or otherwise.

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