In afternoon trade the Starpharma Holdings Limited (ASX: SPL) share price has been amongst the biggest movers on the market.
At the time of writing the dendrimer product developer's shares are up a massive 10.5% to 84 cents.
What happened?
This morning Starpharma announced promising results from its VivaGel BV phase 3 trials.
According to the release, the trials of the gel for the prevention of recurrent bacterial vaginosis (rBV) achieved their primary objective and demonstrated statistically significant superiority compared to a placebo.
In light of this, the company will now submit a marketing application to the FDA for the gel in relation to the treatment of rBV.
As there are currently no approved products for the prevention of rBV, management believes there is a significant unmet medical need.
Which is great news for shareholders because Starpharma's CEO Jackie Fairley estimates the market to be worth in excess of US$1 billion per annum globally.
Given that Starpharma's market capitalisation is approximately $310 million, VivaGel BV has the potential to be a game-changer for the company.
Should you invest?
Overall, I believe the potential of VivaGel BV makes the company well worth keeping a close eye on.
But it is early days and the company must now look to gain FDA approval, which can be a lengthy and costly endeavour.
So for now I would suggest investors keep Starpharma on their watchlist and consider gaining exposure to the sector through the likes of CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) or Bionomics Ltd (ASX: BNO) for the time being.
