Carbon Trust Grant / New Customer Contract

RNS Number : 0552F

Ilika plc

18 April 2011

 



18 April 2011

Ilika plc

("Ilika" or the "Company")

 Carbon Trust Grant

New Customer Contract for Battery Materials Screening

Ilika plc (AIM:IKA), the advanced cleantech materials discovery company, is pleased to announce that Ilika Technologies Limited has been awarded a £173k research and development grant by the Carbon Trust to undertake further scale-up synthesis and MEA (Membrane Electrode Assembly) testing of high performing palladium alloy compositions for use in fuel cell vehicles.

Ilika is also pleased to announce that it has signed an initial contract with a world leading electronics manufacturer. The contract is to demonstrate Ilika's high throughput, screening technologies for the identification and optimisation of next generation battery materials, in return for stage payments.

Commenting on these announcements, Graeme Purdy, Chief Executive of Ilika, said:

"To have received this continuing commitment from the Carbon Trust  is a further testimony to Ilika's technical capabilities. This is reinforced by the award of a further project from another world leading organisation that has chosen Ilika as a materials development partner."

Dr Robert Trezona, Director, Research Accelerators at the Carbon Trust, added:

"We have been supporting Ilika's fuel cell work for some time and their recent results confirm the major commercial and carbon-saving potential that this UK technology could unlock. Ilika's world-class materials development could significantly improve the cost, performance and durability of clean energy products."

 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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