Perth, June 13, 2008 (ABN Newswire) - Stirling Products Limited (ASX:STI), an animal healthcare development and commercialization company, today announced that it is launching its presence into the companion animal healthcare market at the BIO2008 Annual Convention in San Diego, June 17-20, 2008.

Stirling’s CEO and Managing Director, Dr Calvin London, will be attending the conference's business forum.

Stirling is formalizing a range of products for companion animal health which are expected to experience rapid time-to-market under a newly created subsidiary, Stirling Animal Health Pty Ltd. This product portfolio includes its lead compound in development, R-salbutamol, which has applications for the treatment of obesity in companion animals.

R-albuterol (R-salbutamol) is the pure, active enantiomer of the asthma medication albuterol, which has been used in humans for over 25 years. R-albuterol has the potential to offer a safe and effective treatment for obesity in pets, and its purity allows it to be used at lower concentrations than the racemic version. Proof-of-concept efficacy studies in dogs demonstrated up to 2.8% weight loss in a week with a 0.8 mg/kg dose, and no clinical side effects were observed. Because much of the proof-of-concept development for the compound has been performed in human clinical applications, Ralbuterol has the potential for rapid development time-to-market for companion animal indications.

"We believe that the treatment of obesity in companion animals represents an exciting application for Stirling's technology platform," said Dr Calvin London, CEO and Managing Director of Stirling. "There is a clearly defined market need for this type of therapy to address this large and growing epidemic, which is the number one cause of metabolic disorders in dogs and cats. We are encouraged that R-albuterol has achieved proof-of-concept in dogs and are planning on advancing it toward registration trials for the companion animal market in the U.S."

Dr London continued, "I am looking forward to attending the BIO convention to explore business development opportunities for our companion animal business, particularly our lead product, as we recognize the value of exclusive partnerships in achieving our corporate goals and supporting product manufacturing, sales and distribution. The core resources of Stirling are focused on efficiently and effectively bringing products to market or to a stage of development that is attractive for partnerships and licensing agreements.

Much of the development performed with dogs will provide excellent pre-clinical data for the human obesity application of R-salbutamol, for which we are also seeking partnerships. Our recent licensing deal with Aquience Inc. for exclusive rights to PetQuench(TM), a fortified water for pets, further demonstrates our deep interest in the companion animal business."

It is estimated that globally, up to 40% of dogs and 35% of cats are overweight or obese. The companion animal market is the fastest-expanding sector in animal health, worth approximately $2.3 billion in U.S. alone. Sales of regulated animal health products, largely pharmaceuticals, were $4.4 billion worldwide in 2006.