DMTR.L Regulatory News (DMTR)

16 Oct 2008 07:00



16 October 2008

Oxford Advanced Surfaces Group PLC (the 'Company')

Business Update and new Development Agreement signed

Oxford Advanced Surfaces Group plc announces the signing of its first development agreement in the biomedical sector. The group has been engaged by a European technology innovator working on novel medical devices in the field of gastroenterology. 

The Company is building a development portfolio across a broad range of applications and sectors, primarily through Joint Development Agreements ("JDAs") with leading players in a variety of markets but also advancing some in-house proofs of concept in selected applications. Each of these projects, if they reach the market and are commercially successful, would represent a significant revenue and profit opportunity for both the customer and the Company.

With this new project we are now actively engaged in eleven  specific  development  programmes.  Eight of these are in sectors such as industrial materials, consumer goods, electronics and now biomedical. A further three are in-house development applications of the Onto™ technology for use in photovoltaic devices and solid state lighting. All of these programmes are in Stage 1 (Development of Materials). Whilst we expect a number of these projects to progress to Stage 2 (Process Development & Manufacturing Trials) some attrition will naturally occur. 

In addition we have a substantial pipeline of opportunities awaiting Initial Assessment or Proof of Concept ("PoC"). Many of these companies are global leaders in growth areas such as advanced materials, photovoltaics, solid state lighting and biomedical devices. Our immediate aim is to build and maintain a portfolio of 15-20 active projects at any point in time and to begin to advance one or two projects to Stage 2 in 2009. We are well on our way to achieving this goal.

The company is also involved in a number of collaborative or grant funded programmes. Currently, the Company is participating in a collaborative research and development project with the University of Manchester and the Centre for Process Innovation in the field of plastic electronics, sponsoring a Knowledge Transfer Partnership in photovoltaics with The University of Oxford, and has just been awarded a grant from the Carbon Trust to develop applications in solid state lighting.

Marcelo Bravo, Chief Executive of Oxford Advances Surfaces Group plc, said:

"I am delighted to announce our first engagement into the biomedical devices market. This market has great potential for us from general applications of the Onto™ technology through to specialised biological coatings and biofilm and infection control."

Contacts: 

Notes to Editors

Oxford Advanced Surfaces Group plc

Oxford Advanced Surfaces Group plc develops and commercialises advanced materials and technology solutions leveraging breakthrough surface modification technology.

Onto™ technology exploits highly reactive chemistry allowing the rapid and convenient modification of the surface properties of a wide range of materials with a high degree of control over processing parameters. Onto™ can be applied using standard commercial coating and curing techniques and is a versatile, effective, yet simple approach to deliver intelligent advanced materials. This delivers permanent, dramatic and highly valuable changes to surface functionality. 

The company is working with commercial partners to develop applications in the industrial, consumer, electronics, alternative energy and biomedical sectors. OASG was originally spun out of Oxford University in the United Kingdom and is now listed on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

Website: www.oxfordsurfaces.com