Melbourne, Australia; 22 April 2008: Starpharma Holdings Ltd (ASX:SPL, OTCQX:SPHRY) today announced the first commercial product launch based on its Priostar® dendrimer technology.

The product, a research reagent kit called NanoJuiceTM Transfection Kit for transporting DNA into cells, was developed under a license and supply agreement established in February 2007 between Starpharma’s wholly owned US subsidiary Dendritic Nanotechnologies (DNT) and EMD Chemicals Inc., an affiliate of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.

Under the commercial agreement, Starpharma retains full rights to all in vivo aspects of transfecting DNA and other nucleic acids such as siRNA with products based on Priostar® technology. Starpharma supplies the Priostar® dendrimers and will receive royalties from the sale of the transfection kits.

The NanoJuiceTM Transfection Kit launched by EMD Chemicals will be marketed to researchers as an improved product for optimal transfection efficiencies, low toxicity to cells and flexibility in the conditions of transfection.

In addition, the reagent is suitable for use with all types of cell growth media and does not require that the medium be changed after addition, thereby affording researchers substantial savings in time and money.

The transfection reagent in the kit is based on Starpharma’s Priostar® dendrimers, highly branched spherical molecules with a high concentration of active groups on the surface that bind to DNA and are taken up by cells. It is the only reagent available that has been optimized for different cell lines through the use of different sizes of dendrimer.

The kit was designed to achieve efficient transfection of mammalian cells, especially those derived directly from tissues (so-called ‘primary’ cells), as well as the cell lines that are traditionally difficult to transfect.

The kit consists of Priostar® dendrimers mixed with microscopic lipid-based spheres that carry multiple positively charged groups.

DNT expects EMD to launch a related siRNA transfection reagent kit later in 2008.

About Starpharma
Starpharma Holdings Limited (ASX:SPL, OTCQX:SPHRY) is a world leader in the development of dendrimer nanotechnology for pharmaceutical, life-science and other applications. SPL is principally composed of two operating companies, Starpharma Pty Ltd in Melbourne, Australia and Dendritic Nanotechnologies, Inc in Michigan, USA. Products based on SPL’s dendrimer technology are already on the market in the form of diagnostic elements and laboratory reagents.

The Company’s lead pharmaceutical development product is VivaGel® (SPL7013 Gel), a vaginal microbicide designed to prevent the transmission of STIs, including HIV and genital herpes.

In the wider pharmaceutical field Starpharma has specific programs in the areas of Drug Delivery and Drug Optimisation technologies (using dendrimers to control where and when drugs go when introduced to the body) and Targeted Diagnostics (using dendrimers as a scaffold to which both location-signalling and targeting groups are added to allow location of specific cell type, such as cancer cells). More broadly the company is exploring dendrimer opportunities in materials science with applications as diverse as adhesives, lubricants and water remediation.

SPL has a comprehensive IP portfolio that comprises more than 224 patents/applications issued and pending across 56 patent families - a unique level of IP concentration among nanotechnology companies.

Dendrimers: 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 Stock Exchange. The Bank of New York Mellon is the depositary bank. Starpharma’s ADRs are listed on International OTCQX (www.otcqx.com), a premium market tier in the U.S. for international exchange-listed companies, operated by Pink Sheets, LLC.

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.

For further information:
Media
Buchan Consulting
Rebecca Wilson
Tel: +61 2 9237 2800
Mob: +61 417 382 391
rwilson@bcg.com.au

Ellie Papathanasiou
Tel: +61 2 9237 2800
epapathanasiou@bcg.com.au

Starpharma
www.starpharma.com

Dr Jackie Fairley
Chief Executive Officer
+61 3 8532 2704

Ben Rogers
Company Secretary
+61 3 8532 2702
ben.rogers@starpharma.com

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