The Starpharma Holdings Ltd (ASX: SPL) share price has gained more than 6% from the open today as investors respond positively to the company's AGM.
In the address, the biotech company outlined several investment takeouts, ranging from its financials to various product and/or drug launches throughout the year.
At the time of writing, the Starpharma share price is trading near 3-month lows at $1.11 after coming off a high of $1.48 in September.
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What did Starpharma cover in its AGM?
The company reiterated its FY21 financials where it recognised $2.2 million in sales, down from $6.6 million in FY20.
However, note that Starpharma received a $4.4 million milestone payment last year from AstraZeneca for its DEP drug delivery platform.
As such, the loss for the period came in at almost $20 million, a blowout of $6 million from the year prior, and net cash burn was also higher at $16.5 million in FY21.
Starpharma left FY21 with $53.4 million on the balance sheet after collecting $46.9 million in net proceeds from an equity placement and share purchase plan.
Aside from this, the company also registered its antiviral VIRALEZE nasal spray in Europe, India, and New Zealand, and secured distribution agreements in the UK, Italy, and Vietnam.
These agreements enabled the launch of VIRALEZE in pharmacies, online, and in retail outlets in those regions, per the release. In fact, Starpharma even established its own e-commerce store which has now shipped VIRALEZE to consumers in more than 50 countries.
Earlier in the year, the company signed a new partnership agreement with pharmaceutical company Merck & Co Inc for its DEP platform. This builds on partnerships with AstraZeneca and Chase Sun, alongside "several undisclosed partner programs".
What did management say?
Speaking on the address which is likely fuelling the Starpharma share price today, chairman Rob Thomas AO said:
This year, we continued to witness the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic following the emergence of multiple new and more severe variants, which required our community to innovate and adapt quickly to overcome the challenges posed by this global health crisis.
For Starpharma, it reinforced the value of our purpose and strategic focus as an organisation, which is to leverage the company's proprietary dendrimer platform technology to build a portfolio of high-value products and partnerships that address significant unmet patient need. It inspired our team to develop VIRALEZE™, an innovative broad-spectrum antiviral nasal spray that can be used in situations where individuals may be at risk of being exposed to respiratory viruses, including coronavirus.
What's on the cards for Starpharma and its share price?
According to the address, Starpharma remains focused on progressing its DEP programs – both internal and partnered.
It also hopes to close out a number of valuable distribution arrangements and product registrations for VIRALEZE by the end of CY21.
Looking to 2022 and beyond, Starpharma remains focused on "fulfilling its purpose and strategic objectives with further registrations, launches and revenue growth for VIRALEZE and VivaGel products, and DEP partnerships".
In the past 12 months, the Starpharma share price has fallen almost 13%. It is also down 29% this year to date.
