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(Alliance News) - Nanoco Group PLC on Thursday said it had signed a quantum dot material supply agreement with STMicroelectronics International NV.
Shares in Nanoco closed 35% higher at 14.85 pence in London.
The agreement includes both the development work and commercial supply of nano-materials to be used in "various infra-red sensing applications" and is for an initial period of five years.
The deal extends a collaboration between between the two companies that was in place while the firms worked for a "mutual significant US customer".
Nanoco has already received orders for development work on material for a new application, and small scale volumes of an existing material have been received by STMicroelectronics. Nanoco said that the first development work phase, which began in April, is likely to continue until December 3030.
The company also said the new purchase orders are of a material size for Nanoco and they "underpin the extended operational cash runway" to the second quarter of 2021 announced along with its interim results in April.
The agreement commits STMicroelectronics to buy "curtain minimal volumes" should future commercial production orders be received.
Nanoco Chief Executive Michael Edelman said: " Both companies have been working actively to generate value from our previous two years of investments in developing new materials, devices, and mass production capabilities for use in infra-red sensing. The Agreement now enables us find new routes to market in the short term, and potential new applications in the medium term.
"ST's deep knowledge of the sensing markets and multiple potential applications and customers makes them an ideal strategic customer for Nanoco. Nanoco's materials deliver a very significant performance enhancement to ST's silicon based infra-red sensors. A medium term roadmap to commercial production volumes, enabled by our newly developed materials, is taking shape. This will allow us to leverage the value from our recent investment in our new Runcorn electronics materials production facility."
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
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