The Starpharma Holdings Ltd (ASX: SPL) share price is ending the month in disastrous fashion.
In morning trade, the ASX All Ords biotechnology share is down 34% to a 52-week low of 21.5 cents.
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Why is this ASX All Ords share being sold off?
Investors have been hitting the sell button in a panic on Monday after the company was dealt a major blow from pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca plc (NASDAQ: AZN).
According to the release, AstraZeneca has made the decision to discontinue the development of AZD0466 following an internal review that was prompted by a small number of asymptomatic adverse events (AEs).
AZD0466 is a highly optimised dendrimer nanoparticle formulation of AstraZeneca's dual Bcl-2/xL inhibitor, AZD4320, which utilises Starpharma's dendrimer drug delivery technology.
The release highlights that the events were unrelated to Starpharma's dendrimer drug delivery technology. And while management believes the AEs do not adversely impact the therapeutic and commercial potential of its technology, that hasn't been enough to convince the market not to sell off this ASX All Ords share today.
Starpharma's CEO, Jackie Fairley said:
Whilst this decision is clearly not what Starpharma would have hoped for, we note that it relates to haematological malignancies and at the highest three dose groups of AZD0466 and was not due to our dendrimer technology.
DEP has demonstrated multiple benefits in Starpharma's clinical studies in patients with solid tissue tumours, including significant preferential accumulation in these tumours compared to blood levels. This development with AZD0466 does not impact Starpharma's DEP platform, the Company's internal clinical and preclinical DEP programs, or DEP partnerships. Starpharma's multi-product DEP License agreement with AstraZeneca remains in effect.
This ASX All Ords share is now down 66% over the last 12 months.
