Renewal of Contracts

RNS Number : 3373C

Ilika plc

04 March 2011

 



4 March 2011

Ilika plc

("Ilika" or the "Company")

 Renewal of Contracts

Ilika plc (AIM: IKA), the advanced cleantech materials discovery company, is pleased to announce it has renewed and extended the scope of contracts with a major existing customer for the development of novel battery materials. Together with other secured orders, these contracts bring the level of committed revenues to more than £1.8 million for the current financial year ending 30 April 2011. Committed revenues for the financial year ending 30 April 2012 are now in excess of £0.5 million in aggregate.

Commenting on the contracts, Graeme Purdy, CEO of Ilika, said: "These renewals confirm customer appreciation of the value Ilika brings to product development programmes. We are delighted to extend our relationship with this particular customer into the next project phase. This collaboration reinforces Ilika's position as a globally-leading provider of materials expertise for the rapid development of next generation battery materials. In particular, Ilika's ability to rapidly synthesize candidate materials and test them using proprietary high-throughput electrochemical screening methods continues to be seen as a unique differentiator by our partners and customers."

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 For more information contact:

Ilika plc Graeme Purdy, Chief Executive Steve Boydell, Finance Director	[phone]
Nomura Code Securities Limited Phil Walker / Christopher Golden	[phone]
Pelham Bell Pottinger Archie Berens / Olly Scott / Francesca Tuckett	[phone]

About Ilika 

Ilika is an advanced materials company which accelerates the discovery of new and patentable materials using its unique high throughput technologies (''HTT'') process for identified end uses in the energy, electronics and biomedical sectors. This process enables hundreds of scalable materials to be made in a single, automated operation and subsequently tested for key properties.

Traditionally, materials development has been a slow and arduous task, with manual, sequential methods used to make samples of material that are then tested for suitability. On average, it takes between 7 and 10 years to move from an initial discovery through to the first commercial prototype. Experiments carried out by the Company can be executed 10 to 100 times faster than using traditional techniques.

The Company focuses on three principal sectors and has a number of active development programmes addressing markets within each sector:

Energy - developing innovative new materials for Lithium-ion batteries for vehicles for Toyota; developing high capacity hydrogen storage materials with Shell Hydrogen and Johnson Matthey through joint development programmes; developing cheaper alternatives to Platinum electrodes for use in fuel cells through a grant-funded project with the Carbon Trust; developing new materials for use in fuel cells for the transport sector for a major vehicle manufacturer; and carrying out in-house research on film photovoltaic solar cells.

Electronics - developing lead-free piezoelectric materials through a joint development programme with CeramTec; developing phase change memory materials for high capacity memory chips and high-performing electronic materials for a multi-national manufacturer.

Biomedical - developing polymers to enable the filtering of somatic stem cells from blood with a major global supplier of filters; it has been selling its Cryoskin and Myskin products for the treatment of burns and wounds in the UK through a specialist distributor and intends to commence clinical trials of its corneal bandage candidate.

The Group's commercialisation strategy is to enter into joint development or licensing agreements with large multinational companies which are seeking to commercialise products developed using the intellectual property created through jointly-funded programmes. Current commercialisation partners include large multinational companies such as Toyota, Shell, Johnson Matthey and CeramTec. The Company generates revenues from three sources: licensing and milestone payments from joint development programmes; fee for service from contract research projects; and from sales of Cryoskin and Myskin.

 

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