The Starpharma Holdings Limited (ASX: SPL) share price has come under pressure on Tuesday despite the release of a positive announcement.
In afternoon trade, the dendrimer products developer's shares are down 4.5% to $1.99.
What did Starpharma announce?
This morning Starpharma announced that its Viraleze antiviral nasal spray has now been launched in the UK by LloydsPharmacy.
Viraleze is a broad spectrum antiviral nasal spray that contains astodrimer sodium (SPL7013), which is virucidal and irreversibly inactivates >99.9% of the virus that causes COVID-19 within one minute.
The company also notes that SPL7013 has been shown to be highly active against multiple strains of COVID-19, as well as a broad spectrum of other viruses. These include influenza, RSV, SARS, MERS, and HIV.
What now?
According to the release, Viraleze is now available for purchase in the UK online at LloydsPharmacy and will soon be launched instore.
At present, LloydsPharmacy plans to rollout Viraleze to their 1,400 UK pharmacies in April. It will also be made available through McKesson's AAH wholesale division, which services a total of 14,000 independent pharmacies in the UK.
But the company won't be stopping there. Starpharma also plans to roll the product out across Europe, and will seek registration for the product in other regions, including Australia.
Commenting on the deal with LloydsPharmacy and McKesson last week, Starpharma's CEO, Dr Jackie Fairley, revealed that the company was very excited with the launch.
She said: "We are excited that VIRALEZE will be available from next week in the second largest pharmacy chain in the UK. The LloydsPharmacy/McKesson team shares Starpharma's enthusiasm and commitment to bring VIRALEZE antiviral nasal spray to UK consumers as they emerge from their latest lockdown. LloydsPharmacy represents an ideal partner for this product."
Why is the Starpharma share price tumbling lower?
While the above is a big positive, it was already largely factored in by the market following its previous announcement.
In light of this, investors may be taking a bit of profit off the table today after a strong gain by the Starpharma share price this year.
In fact, even after today's decline, the Starpharma share price is up 30% since the start of the year.
