The Starpharma Holdings Limited (ASX: SPL) share price is pushing higher today following an update from the biopharmaceutical company.
At the time of writing, the dendrimer products developer's shares are up 3.70% to $1.12.
What did Starpharma announce?
According to its release, Starpharma announced it has signed an initial supply contract for Viraleze in Vietnam.
Viraleze is an antiviral nasal spray that has been shown in laboratory studies to inactivate a broad spectrum of respiratory/cold viruses. This includes multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), influenza, RSV, SARS, and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome).
The first orders of around 100,000 units of Viraleze are expected to arrive in Vietnam sometime in early November. Launch preparations for the product are anticipated to commence shortly. A portion of these orders will also be donated to hospitals and other healthcare organisations across the country.
Vietnam with a population of about 97 million, is currently experiencing a significant Delta outbreak despite 20% of its population being fully vaccinated. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the COVID-19 has taken 21,000 lives in Vietnam so far.
Starpharma noted that registration for the product is well advanced in the south-east Asian country. Once completed, an ongoing distribution agreement is expected to follow involving much larger orders of Viraleze. These arrangements are exclusive for retail, pharmacies, clinics, and hospitals in Vietnam.
Starpharma CEO, Dr Jackie Fairley commented:
We are very pleased to be able to make Viraleze available to Vietnamese consumers and frontline workers next month, especially given the current Delta outbreak and vaccination rates in Vietnam. This supply contract is one of a number of international commercial arrangements for Viraleze being negotiated by Starpharma and we look forward to making further announcements about those soon.
Starpharma share price snapshot
At the start of 2021, Starpharma shares rocketed to an all-time high of $2.52 in mid-February. However, the sharp rise quickly came, and then its shares crashed down the following month.
Since then, the company's shares have continued their downward trend, hitting a 52-week low of $1.04 just yesterday.
Starpharma is down by more than 20% in the past 12 months, and almost 30% lower in 2021.
