1 00:00:03,960 --> 00:00:07,050 Jennifer Duke: Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business Interview. I'm Jennifer 2 00:00:07,050 --> 00:00:10,920 Jennifer Duke: Duke. Last week we spoke about Starpharma, it's an Australian 3 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:14,520 Jennifer Duke: biotech company that had seen a 23. 1% jump in 4 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:17,910 Jennifer Duke: its share price in just one day. The spike came 5 00:00:17,910 --> 00:00:20,970 Jennifer Duke: after some very positive interim clinical trial results for its 6 00:00:20,970 --> 00:00:24,690 Jennifer Duke: new cancer treatments. I find this whole space fascinating and 7 00:00:24,690 --> 00:00:27,360 Jennifer Duke: wanted to find out more. Dr. Jackie Fairley is the 8 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:30,209 Jennifer Duke: CEO of Starpharma. Jackie, welcome to Fear and Greed. 9 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:32,459 Dr. Jackie Fairley: Thank you very much, pleased to be here. 10 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:35,818 Jennifer Duke: So this is a really amazing story. Can you talk 11 00:00:35,820 --> 00:00:37,650 Jennifer Duke: me through the results that led to the jump in 12 00:00:37,650 --> 00:00:38,430 Jennifer Duke: this share price? 13 00:00:39,030 --> 00:00:42,540 Dr. Jackie Fairley: Of course. So Starpharma, as you said, is an Australian 14 00:00:42,540 --> 00:00:45,900 Dr. Jackie Fairley: company based in Melbourne, quite close to Carlton United Breweries 15 00:00:45,900 --> 00:00:49,110 Dr. Jackie Fairley: in Abbotsford, and we actually use the old Carlton United 16 00:00:49,110 --> 00:00:54,149 Dr. Jackie Fairley: Brewery laboratories, for a fun fact. We have developed a 17 00:00:54,150 --> 00:00:58,950 Dr. Jackie Fairley: technology platform which was originally spun out of CSIRO, and 18 00:00:59,370 --> 00:01:02,580 Dr. Jackie Fairley: that platform technology is used for what we call drug 19 00:01:02,580 --> 00:01:05,819 Dr. Jackie Fairley: delivery, which is to improve the performance of drugs, to 20 00:01:05,819 --> 00:01:09,300 Dr. Jackie Fairley: make them more efficacious, which means make them work better 21 00:01:09,660 --> 00:01:12,299 Dr. Jackie Fairley: and to make them less toxic, and the results we 22 00:01:12,299 --> 00:01:15,870 Dr. Jackie Fairley: announced last week were from one of our three clinical- 23 00:01:15,870 --> 00:01:20,459 Dr. Jackie Fairley: stage candidates that Starpharma is developing itself. We also have partnerships 24 00:01:20,459 --> 00:01:24,809 Dr. Jackie Fairley: with leading companies like Merck, and Genentech, and AstraZeneca, but 25 00:01:24,809 --> 00:01:27,749 Dr. Jackie Fairley: the results last week relate to a product called DEP® 26 00:01:27,809 --> 00:01:33,300 Dr. Jackie Fairley: irinotecan. It's a highly branched, roughly spherical polymer, it's made 27 00:01:33,300 --> 00:01:37,709 Dr. Jackie Fairley: up of amino acids so it's biodegradable and biocompatible, and 28 00:01:37,709 --> 00:01:40,319 Dr. Jackie Fairley: it acts as a scaffold to which we can attach 29 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:44,849 Dr. Jackie Fairley: a range of different things including cancer drugs. And we 30 00:01:44,849 --> 00:01:50,220 Dr. Jackie Fairley: have been trialing that in patients with advanced cancers. So 31 00:01:50,220 --> 00:01:55,710 Dr. Jackie Fairley: in particular, these results related to advanced colorectal cancer and 32 00:01:55,710 --> 00:02:00,479 Dr. Jackie Fairley: advanced ovarian cancer, which are both very problematic cancers. Colorectal 33 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:03,899 Dr. Jackie Fairley: cancer is one of the most common cancers, I think 34 00:02:03,900 --> 00:02:08,340 Dr. Jackie Fairley: it's around the third most common cancer worldwide. And the WHO is 35 00:02:08,340 --> 00:02:13,500 Dr. Jackie Fairley: expecting that to increase by about 70% between now and 36 00:02:13,500 --> 00:02:17,549 Dr. Jackie Fairley: 2030, so it's a really important cancer type. And in 37 00:02:17,550 --> 00:02:21,689 Dr. Jackie Fairley: the results, we showed that our product, DEP® irinotecan, in 38 00:02:21,690 --> 00:02:25,950 Dr. Jackie Fairley: comparison to published data for the original version of this 39 00:02:25,950 --> 00:02:32,880 Dr. Jackie Fairley: drug which is marketed by Pfizer, showed significantly better side 40 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:38,549 Dr. Jackie Fairley: effect profile and tolerability, far less gastrointestinal side effects, far 41 00:02:38,549 --> 00:02:43,200 Dr. Jackie Fairley: less side effects overall actually, and also some really impressive 42 00:02:43,380 --> 00:02:48,060 Dr. Jackie Fairley: efficacy results in both colon cancer and in ovarian cancer. 43 00:02:48,990 --> 00:02:52,260 Jennifer Duke: Those statistics in the World Health Organization are pretty startling. 44 00:02:52,260 --> 00:02:54,389 Jennifer Duke: Is this sort of what drives you in this space, 45 00:02:54,389 --> 00:02:57,509 Jennifer Duke: knowing that that rise in health instances is coming? 46 00:02:58,288 --> 00:03:01,590 Dr. Jackie Fairley: Absolutely. I mean, there have been many advances for cancer 47 00:03:01,590 --> 00:03:06,150 Dr. Jackie Fairley: in the last 15 or 20 years, and certainly there are classes 48 00:03:06,150 --> 00:03:10,679 Dr. Jackie Fairley: of drugs called immuno- oncology agents which have revolutionized results 49 00:03:10,679 --> 00:03:13,679 Dr. Jackie Fairley: in some kinds of lung cancer, and bladder cancer, and 50 00:03:13,679 --> 00:03:18,660 Dr. Jackie Fairley: melanoma, but colorectal cancer has really not had much that 51 00:03:18,660 --> 00:03:22,260 Dr. Jackie Fairley: has come through new, and so there's a lot of 52 00:03:22,260 --> 00:03:25,050 Dr. Jackie Fairley: demand. The clinicians or the oncologists who are in our 53 00:03:25,050 --> 00:03:29,190 Dr. Jackie Fairley: trials had no trouble finding patients for this trial, because 54 00:03:29,190 --> 00:03:33,869 Dr. Jackie Fairley: really these advanced patients have so few options. They've often 55 00:03:33,870 --> 00:03:37,530 Dr. Jackie Fairley: tried an average of just say six other therapies before 56 00:03:37,530 --> 00:03:41,700 Dr. Jackie Fairley: they come into the study. And so the efficacy results 57 00:03:41,700 --> 00:03:45,060 Dr. Jackie Fairley: that we saw that lasted as long as 72 weeks 58 00:03:45,389 --> 00:03:49,050 Dr. Jackie Fairley: in these patients, and we got a disease control rate 59 00:03:49,110 --> 00:03:53,340 Dr. Jackie Fairley: of 48% in these patients, are really clinically meaningful for 60 00:03:53,340 --> 00:03:56,940 Dr. Jackie Fairley: them because they really have few options. And that period 61 00:03:56,940 --> 00:04:00,030 Dr. Jackie Fairley: is, you know, in a situation like this, is a very 62 00:04:00,210 --> 00:04:00,811 Dr. Jackie Fairley: significant extension. 63 00:04:00,811 --> 00:04:04,620 Jennifer Duke: Definitely. Definitely. I can imagine that's really meaningful to lots 64 00:04:04,620 --> 00:04:07,619 Jennifer Duke: of people suffering. Can you take me through the process 65 00:04:07,620 --> 00:04:10,529 Jennifer Duke: of developing something like this and how long it takes 66 00:04:10,529 --> 00:04:11,040 Jennifer Duke: the business? 67 00:04:12,449 --> 00:04:15,870 Dr. Jackie Fairley: Yeah, so actually in the case of DEP® irinotecan, the same 68 00:04:15,870 --> 00:04:19,770 Dr. Jackie Fairley: is true of some of our other products, we have intentionally 69 00:04:19,890 --> 00:04:25,079 Dr. Jackie Fairley: selected widely- used, well- established treatments, so in this case 70 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:28,680 Dr. Jackie Fairley: the colon cancer drug CAMPTOSAR®, which is marketed by Pfizer, 71 00:04:29,190 --> 00:04:32,159 Dr. Jackie Fairley: and we've taken those to improve upon them. And one 72 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:34,320 Dr. Jackie Fairley: of the reasons that we've done that is because it 73 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:39,029 Dr. Jackie Fairley: does represent a more rapid development pathway, a more rapid 74 00:04:39,029 --> 00:04:42,360 Dr. Jackie Fairley: way of getting a product to market. For a completely 75 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:46,649 Dr. Jackie Fairley: novel pharmaceutical, you're probably looking at probably in the order 76 00:04:46,650 --> 00:04:51,210 Dr. Jackie Fairley: of 12 to 13 years for development, but for something which is 77 00:04:51,210 --> 00:04:54,570 Dr. Jackie Fairley: an improved version of an existing product, that can be 78 00:04:54,570 --> 00:04:58,320 Dr. Jackie Fairley: achieved in a shorter time. So for instance, some of 79 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:01,830 Dr. Jackie Fairley: these disease types that we're looking at, if they potentially 80 00:05:01,830 --> 00:05:07,020 Dr. Jackie Fairley: represent accelerated development pathways, you could probably develop something in 81 00:05:07,470 --> 00:05:08,849 Dr. Jackie Fairley: roughly half that period. 82 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:11,370 Jennifer Duke: Stay with me, Jackie, we'll be back in a minute. 83 00:05:17,580 --> 00:05:22,198 Jennifer Duke: I'm speaking to Dr. Jackie Fairley, CEO of Starpharma. That 84 00:05:22,199 --> 00:05:24,149 Jennifer Duke: can sound like a long time to investors who are 85 00:05:24,150 --> 00:05:26,580 Jennifer Duke: used to perhaps putting their money into other types of 86 00:05:26,580 --> 00:05:29,580 Jennifer Duke: businesses where things are a lot quicker, I suppose, and 87 00:05:29,580 --> 00:05:32,639 Jennifer Duke: less complicated. As sort of CEO of this type of 88 00:05:32,639 --> 00:05:34,800 Jennifer Duke: business, how hard is that part of your job managing 89 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:36,390 Jennifer Duke: those investor expectations? 90 00:05:38,009 --> 00:05:41,129 Dr. Jackie Fairley: Look, I think it's an important thing for investors who 91 00:05:41,490 --> 00:05:45,810 Dr. Jackie Fairley: consider investing in this space to understand, but there is 92 00:05:45,810 --> 00:05:49,110 Dr. Jackie Fairley: a lot of value created along the way, and so 93 00:05:49,110 --> 00:05:52,980 Dr. Jackie Fairley: it's not only getting the product into market which creates 94 00:05:52,980 --> 00:05:56,969 Dr. Jackie Fairley: value. Because in the case of these products, the results 95 00:05:56,969 --> 00:06:00,448 Dr. Jackie Fairley: that we've recently released, these are the results which will 96 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:04,678 Dr. Jackie Fairley: support us commercializing that product by licensing it to a 97 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:08,340 Dr. Jackie Fairley: third party who will take it through into the market. 98 00:06:08,820 --> 00:06:14,279 Dr. Jackie Fairley: And so it's very usual to sign commercialization deals which 99 00:06:14,279 --> 00:06:17,759 Dr. Jackie Fairley: have tens of millions, hundreds of millions of dollars in 100 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:23,250 Dr. Jackie Fairley: milestones and royalties associated with a product, that obviously those 101 00:06:23,250 --> 00:06:26,490 Dr. Jackie Fairley: figures apply for the life of the product, but you'll 102 00:06:26,490 --> 00:06:30,479 Dr. Jackie Fairley: actually be receiving milestones along the way so you don't 103 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:33,000 Dr. Jackie Fairley: need to wait. You're not talking about waiting until the 104 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:34,889 Dr. Jackie Fairley: product's in the market. I mean, as we saw last 105 00:06:34,889 --> 00:06:39,090 Dr. Jackie Fairley: week, I think we ended up 20 plus percent up 106 00:06:39,450 --> 00:06:42,359 Dr. Jackie Fairley: on the day of this announcement, but at times I 107 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:44,729 Dr. Jackie Fairley: think it was even maybe as high as 30 or 108 00:06:44,730 --> 00:06:48,509 Dr. Jackie Fairley: more than 30%. So there are returns along the way 109 00:06:48,509 --> 00:06:54,990 Dr. Jackie Fairley: for each inflection point, each demonstration of efficacy, reduction of 110 00:06:55,020 --> 00:06:58,440 Dr. Jackie Fairley: side effects, and we'll have, for instance, the announcement we 111 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:01,500 Dr. Jackie Fairley: made last week was about a poster, which one of 112 00:07:01,500 --> 00:07:05,428 Dr. Jackie Fairley: our oncologists will be presenting at an international conference in 113 00:07:05,428 --> 00:07:09,809 Dr. Jackie Fairley: Boston, in October. We have three posters being presented there. 114 00:07:09,809 --> 00:07:13,410 Dr. Jackie Fairley: So as that information is released to the market, they 115 00:07:13,410 --> 00:07:17,850 Dr. Jackie Fairley: are progressive sort of positive pieces of news flow which 116 00:07:17,850 --> 00:07:22,559 Dr. Jackie Fairley: do contribute and do generate value, so there's licensing and 117 00:07:22,559 --> 00:07:25,979 Dr. Jackie Fairley: also potential for sale of products outright. 118 00:07:26,759 --> 00:07:29,879 Jennifer Duke: Definitely. Definitely. And across all those different markets there's obviously 119 00:07:29,879 --> 00:07:33,360 Jennifer Duke: a lot of other regulators involved. How hard can that 120 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:36,240 Jennifer Duke: be working across those different regulators, the different standards? 121 00:07:37,260 --> 00:07:40,410 Dr. Jackie Fairley: Look, it is an important part of pharmaceutical development, but 122 00:07:40,679 --> 00:07:43,559 Dr. Jackie Fairley: in this technology platform we've just been talking about DEP® 123 00:07:43,559 --> 00:07:46,619 Dr. Jackie Fairley: irinotecan, which is one of our oncology products, and we 124 00:07:46,619 --> 00:07:49,920 Dr. Jackie Fairley: have three in development or three in clinical development, and 125 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:52,860 Dr. Jackie Fairley: a number of others earlier. But in addition to that, 126 00:07:53,100 --> 00:07:56,730 Dr. Jackie Fairley: we actually have a number of marketed products, including an 127 00:07:56,730 --> 00:08:01,110 Dr. Jackie Fairley: antiviral nasal spray called VIRALEZE™, which is now registered in 128 00:08:01,650 --> 00:08:05,969 Dr. Jackie Fairley: more than 30 markets. And VivaGel® BV, which is a very 129 00:08:05,969 --> 00:08:10,530 Dr. Jackie Fairley: novel, non- antibiotic therapy for a very common vaginal infection 130 00:08:10,530 --> 00:08:15,030 Dr. Jackie Fairley: called bacterial vaginosis. And that's now registered in more than 131 00:08:15,450 --> 00:08:19,320 Dr. Jackie Fairley: 50 markets. So Starpharma has shown that it has the 132 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:23,789 Dr. Jackie Fairley: ability to get its products registered and understands the regulatory 133 00:08:23,789 --> 00:08:28,980 Dr. Jackie Fairley: processes. They're not always linear and not always straightforward, but 134 00:08:29,370 --> 00:08:31,890 Dr. Jackie Fairley: that is fairly typical in pharmaceutical development. 135 00:08:32,610 --> 00:08:34,980 Jennifer Duke: It must be really nice to see the work that 136 00:08:34,980 --> 00:08:37,769 Jennifer Duke: you do have such a human impact for people. And 137 00:08:37,950 --> 00:08:41,160 Jennifer Duke: you have announced your intention to retire from Starpharma after 138 00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:44,370 Jennifer Duke: 16 years of running the business. What will you miss 139 00:08:44,370 --> 00:08:46,260 Jennifer Duke: most about it, and what are you most proud of 140 00:08:46,260 --> 00:08:47,700 Jennifer Duke: as your time as CEO? 141 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:53,578 Dr. Jackie Fairley: Well, I think it's an incredibly rewarding and exciting industry 142 00:08:53,580 --> 00:08:56,640 Dr. Jackie Fairley: to work in, because, as you say, you really do 143 00:08:56,700 --> 00:09:00,690 Dr. Jackie Fairley: see, it takes a little while obviously, to get products 144 00:09:00,690 --> 00:09:04,920 Dr. Jackie Fairley: into the clinic, but in the DEP® irinotecan study, the 145 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:09,328 Dr. Jackie Fairley: feedback that we have received from clinicians and from patients 146 00:09:09,929 --> 00:09:13,590 Dr. Jackie Fairley: has been extremely positive. So patients who have had the 147 00:09:13,590 --> 00:09:17,730 Dr. Jackie Fairley: original form of this drug say they would never go 148 00:09:17,730 --> 00:09:20,520 Dr. Jackie Fairley: back to it, having had the dendrimer version or the 149 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:24,270 Dr. Jackie Fairley: DEP® irinotecan version of it, because the side effect profile, 150 00:09:24,450 --> 00:09:29,338 Dr. Jackie Fairley: the side effects are so nasty, really, really unpleasant and 151 00:09:29,820 --> 00:09:33,299 Dr. Jackie Fairley: difficult side effects to cope with, whereas none of our 152 00:09:33,299 --> 00:09:37,080 Dr. Jackie Fairley: patients experienced that side effect. So that's a very rewarding 153 00:09:37,470 --> 00:09:40,200 Dr. Jackie Fairley: thing to hear as we speak to the clinicians each 154 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:44,338 Dr. Jackie Fairley: fortnight about the progress in the study. And in addition 155 00:09:44,340 --> 00:09:48,719 Dr. Jackie Fairley: to that, the VIRALEZE™ product, which is an antiviral nasal 156 00:09:48,719 --> 00:09:53,339 Dr. Jackie Fairley: spray, which means that you can protect yourself against viral 157 00:09:53,340 --> 00:09:57,929 Dr. Jackie Fairley: infections, cold viruses, and other viruses, including where it shows 158 00:09:57,929 --> 00:10:02,279 Dr. Jackie Fairley: activity in SARS- CoV- 2, and influenza, and others, it's 159 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:05,578 Dr. Jackie Fairley: very rewarding to see those products go into the market. 160 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:09,478 Dr. Jackie Fairley: And the VivaGel® BV product, which is marketed under a number 161 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:13,020 Dr. Jackie Fairley: of brands, in Australia it's Fleurstat, in other countries it's 162 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:16,140 Dr. Jackie Fairley: got a number of other names, but that product is 163 00:10:16,140 --> 00:10:21,780 Dr. Jackie Fairley: a non- antibiotic product for a recurrent and chronic condition. 164 00:10:22,410 --> 00:10:27,900 Dr. Jackie Fairley: And it offers women an alternative to antibiotics, which we 165 00:10:27,900 --> 00:10:32,130 Dr. Jackie Fairley: all know have side effects, and which we all know 166 00:10:32,130 --> 00:10:35,220 Dr. Jackie Fairley: we should try and curtail the usage of as well, 167 00:10:35,220 --> 00:10:39,840 Dr. Jackie Fairley: because each time they're used it presents the opportunity for 168 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:41,939 Dr. Jackie Fairley: resistance to be generated. 169 00:10:42,809 --> 00:10:45,509 Jennifer Duke: Definitely. Jackie, thank you so much for talking to Fear 170 00:10:45,509 --> 00:10:45,959 Jennifer Duke: and Greed. 171 00:10:46,799 --> 00:10:47,338 Dr. Jackie Fairley: Thank you. 172 00:10:48,270 --> 00:10:51,510 Jennifer Duke: And that was Dr. Jackie Fairley, the CEO of Starpharma. 173 00:10:51,570 --> 00:10:54,000 Jennifer Duke: This is the Fear and Greed Business Interview. Join us 174 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:56,250 Jennifer Duke: every morning for the full episode of Fear and Greed, 175 00:10:56,250 --> 00:11:00,420 Jennifer Duke: Australia's best business podcast. I'm Jennifer Duke, Economics Correspondent at 176 00:11:00,420 --> 00:11:02,849 Jennifer Duke: Capital Brief, and filling in for Sean Alymer. Have a 177 00:11:02,849 --> 00:11:03,449 Jennifer Duke: great day.