One CEO's Push To Make Cancer Drugs And Condoms Great Again
Jackie Fairley believes the way to make older drugs more potent is by re-packaging their chemicals.
Fairley’s biotechnology company, Starpharma Holdings Ltd., holds dozens of patents for ways to make medicines perform better. The Australian firm capitalized on one application of that technology by creating a gel to coat condoms to improve protection against sexually transmitted diseases and the spread of viruses like Zika through sex.
Regulators in Canada, Australia and New Zealand have approved use of the gel and the company is seeking approvals in other countries. But now Fairley, a businesswoman who’s worked in the pharma industry for more than two decades, is setting her sights on a much bigger prize: making generic drugs more effective.
Fairley’s biotechnology company, Starpharma Holdings Ltd., holds dozens of patents for ways to make medicines perform better. The Australian firm capitalized on one application of that technology by creating a gel to coat condoms to improve protection against sexually transmitted diseases and the spread of viruses like Zika through sex.
Regulators in Canada, Australia and New Zealand have approved use of the gel and the company is seeking approvals in other countries. But now Fairley, a businesswoman who’s worked in the pharma industry for more than two decades, is setting her sights on a much bigger prize: making generic drugs more effective.