Nanotechnology Now - Press Release: Starpharma's DNT to Develop Water Purification Technology Under US Defense Dept Contract

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Abstract:
Starpharma today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Dendritic Nanotechnologies Inc (DNT) will develop its proprietary technology to purify water following the award of a contract with the US Department of Defense's (DoD) Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program.

Starpharma's DNT to Develop Water Purification Technology Under US Defense Dept Contract

MOUNT PLEASANT, MI | Posted on August 8th, 2007

The US$1.3m DoD contract was awarded to DNT and the Central Michigan University Research Corporation to develop water remediation technology using DNT's Priostar(TM) dendrimer-based nanotechnology.

The dendrimer is to act as a sponge to soak up toxic chemicals from ground-water, leaving the water purer and useable. The ability of a dendrimer to pack a large functional surface area into a small particle makes it an appropriate choice for the application.

Successful completion of this project, which was sponsored by U.S. Senator Carl Levin and Congressman David Camp, will provide DoD with a new generation cost effective, environmentally acceptable water remediation system. Starpharma retains commercialisation rights to technology developed under the program.

Starpharma CEO Jackie Fairley commented: "Uncontaminated water is already in short supply in many regions throughout the world and increased water stress resulting from climate change is expected to make things worse. Whilst this is a non-core area for Starpharma it addresses an important global issue and is a commercially relevant application of dendrimers which may yield royalty income in the future."

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About Starpharma
Starpharma Holdings Limited 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(TM) (SPL7013 Gel), a vaginal microbicide designed to prevent the transmission of STIs, including HIV and genital herpes.

In the pharmaceutical field Starpharma has additional specific programs in the areas of Drug Delivery and ADME Engineering(TM) (using dendrimers to control where and when drugs go when introduced to the body), Polyvalency (using the fact that dendrimers can activate multiple receptors simultaneously) 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).

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Contacts:
Rebecca Piercy
Buchan Consulting
Tel: +61 2 9237 2800
Mob: +61 422916422

Starpharma:

Dr Jackie Fairley
Chief Executive Officer
Starpharma Holdings Ltd
+61 3 8532 2704

Dr Robert Berry
President
DNT
Tel: 989.774.1799

Ben Rogers
Company Secretary
Starpharma Holdings Ltd
+61 3 8532 2702