Dendritic NanoTechnologies Inc.
(DNT), The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW), and Starpharma (ASX: SPL, USOTC:
SPHRY) of Melbourne, Australia, have reached an agreement that provides DNT and
Starpharma with ownership or access to the world’s broadest patent portfolio in
the field of dendrimers, and establishes the companies as leading providers of
market-validated nanotechnology with near-term, tangible commercial
applications.
Under terms of the deal, Dow
will assign its entire intellectual property portfolio and associated royalties
in the field of dendrimers (196 patents comprising 41 patent families) to DNT
in exchange for a significant equity stake in DNT. Starpharma, which already
held a 42% interest in DNT, will make an additional cash equity investment in
DNT in exchange for exclusive rights to DNT and former Dow intellectual
property for polyvalent, dendrimer-based pharmaceutical applications.
“As part of
this agreement, Dow has assigned all of our extensive intellectual property in
this field to DNT,” explained Mike Pirc, manager of intellectual property, The
Dow Chemical Company. “This move consolidates a great amount of the important
intellectual property in the dendrimer field into one company. It will be very
positive for developing the applications and further demonstrating the value of
this technology.”
“Having an
investment by Dow not only highlights DNT’s position as a global leader in
nanotechnology and advanced dendritic polymers, but also means opportunities
for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology markets,” said Robert Berry, chief
executive officer, Dendritic NanoTechnologies. “The fact that Dow is
transferring their intellectual property portfolio in
dendrimers to DNT reinforces that DNT, and our strategic partner Starpharma,
are well-positioned to develop, market and successfully commercialize these
technologies.”
Dendrimers are
a new class of nanostructures with physical properties that make them ideal
vehicles for targeting diseases and delivering drugs to fight them. Dendrimer
technology was first developed at Dow when DNT founder Donald
Tomalia was a Dow employee. Today, DNT has more than 30
patents in dendrimer science, and sells and licenses more than 200 variations
of dendrimers to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and diagnostics companies.
DNT’s current
product development areas include protein, antibody, and anti-inflammatory drug
delivery technologies for the pharmaceutical industry; small-interfering RNA
(si-RNA) drug targeting and delivery solutions for the biotech industry; and
new diagnostic solutions for enhancing the findings of MRIs. With the
assignment of the Dow patent portfolio, DNT will now own the world’s broadest
intellectual property position in dendrimer science.
In January 2004, Starpharma
became the first company in the world to initiate human clinical testing of a
dendrimer-based pharmaceutical (VivaGel™ for prevention of HIV) under a U.S.
Food and Drug Administration Investigational New Drug application. VivaGel was
recognized as one of the top five nanotech breakthroughs of 2004 by the
Forbes/Wolfe Nanotech Report.
The deal also
positions DNT and Starpharma as the leading sources of license rights for
dendrimers and as developers of the technology in their own rights.
“Starpharma is
very pleased to complete this major deal with Dow and DNT. In doing so, we are
helping to establish our strategic partner DNT as the premier out-licensing
source for one of the most important fields in nanotechnology,” commented John Raff, chief executive officer of Starpharma.
“The agreement also significantly strengthens our own intellectual property
position in the area of polyvalent, dendrimer-based pharmaceuticals.”
“Big pharma has
been in big trouble,” said Josh Wolfe, managing partner, Lux Capital. “They’ve
spent investor money developing drugs with increasingly little returns and
imprecise delivery vehicles. One clear way to deliver better performance is
better delivery of drugs. DNT’s dendrimers fuse biology and chemistry — marrying
a drug with a ‘container’ to deliver it precisely to patients. The Dow patents
and expertise will push this technology closer to market.”
About The Dow Chemical
Company
Dow is a leader
in science and technology, providing innovative chemical, plastic and agricultural
products and services to many essential consumer markets. With annual sales of
$33 billion, Dow serves customers in more than 180 countries and a wide range
of markets that are vital to human progress, including food, transportation,
health and medicine, personal and home care, and building and construction,
among others. Committed to the principles of sustainable development, Dow and
its approximately 46,000 employees seek to balance economic, environmental and
social responsibilities. References to "Dow" or the
"Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated
subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. For further information, visit www.dow.com
About Starpharma
Holdings Ltd.
Starpharma (ASX:SPL)
is focused on the development and application of dendrimer nanotechnologies as
drugs against major diseases. Starpharma’s lead dendrimer product, VivaGel™ has
received clearance from the U.S. FDA for human clinical trials. VivaGel is a topical
microbicide gel product that has been developed for women as a preventative
against the sexual transmission of HIV. It is also active in animal studies for
the prevention of other sexually transmitted diseases including genital herpes
and chlamydia. SPL also has an equity interest in a U.S.-based
company—Dendritic Nanotechnologies Inc. (DNT)—established with the U.S. pioneer of
dendrimer nanotechnology Dr. Donald Tomalia.
http://www.starpharma.com
About DNT
Dendritic
NanoTechnologies Inc. (DNT) is the world’s leading developer and provider of
advanced dendritic polymers. DNT has breakthrough technology that provides the
vehicle - the targeting and delivery mechanisms - for a vast array of
diagnostic and therapeutics currently in development in the biotechnology and
pharmaceutical industries. DNT was founded in 2003 on a technology platform
discovered in 1979 when Donald Tomalia,
PhD, then a senior research scientist with The Dow Chemical Company, discovered
“dendrimers”, or dendritic
polymers. This new type of nanostructure (particles so small they allow us to
build materials literally atom-by-atom) hold great promise for real-world
applications such as biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. Based on Dr. Tomalia’s
work, Dow was awarded the world’s first dendrimer patents. http://www.dnanotech.com
For further information, please contact:
USA (for DNT)
Tim Cox
Zing Public Relations
+1-650-369-7784 office
+1-650-888-6116 cell
tim@zingpr.com
|
Australia (for Starpharma)
Rebecca Christie
Buchan Communications
+61 2 9293 2836
rchristie@bcg.com.au
|
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