13 Dec 2021 07:00
13 December 2021
DeepVerge PLC
("DeepVerge" or "Company")
Modern Water Mobile Services pandemic response detection to include mass spectrometry as part of DeepVerge and Microsaic Systems plc Technology and Commercial Agreement
DeepVerge (LSE:DVRG.L), the environmental and life science AI company, announces that it is expanding the range of dangerous pathogens to be detected within Modern Water Mobile Services ("MWMS") with additional product purchases under the Company's existing Technology and Commercial Agreement (the "Agreement") with Microsaic Systems plc ("Microsaic"), details of which were notified in the RNS of 24 March 2021.
It is also amending the terms of the Agreement to allow provision of additional goods and services, including those which may be developed in the future by Microsaic.
Miniaturised compact technology of Microtox® PD and mass spectrometry
The initial roll out of Modern Water Mobile Services will include modified miniaturised mass spectrometry equipment and services supplied by Microsaic. The value of the current purchase is approximately £262k. This order includes some newly developed products - Microsaic's solid phase extraction - liquid chromatography ("SPE-LC") System - and related consumables with a total value of c.£153k which are currently not covered under the Agreement. These will be used for quality and contamination detection in a range of markets including water and soil analysis.
The SPE-LC System is expected to be used to detect contaminants of emerging concern and will form part of DeepVerge's third generation solution of multiplex pathogen detection and the launch of its Modern Water Mobile Services, which will facilitate auto-sampling at wastewater sites to reduce the time and cost of detection.
Gerard Brandon, CEO of DeepVerge plc (and ecowaterOS member), commented:
"We are delighted to have worked over many months with the amazing team at Microsaic, transitioning equipment designed to operate in laboratories, modified to function as road-worthy mobile real-time detection equipment. Calling on the 20 years of expertise in electronic miniaturisation at Microsaic and 34 years detection of dangerous pathogens in Modern Water to deliver state-of-the-art, third generation, pandemic response detection units in such a short period of time, by altering and miniaturising existing equipment from both companies."
Related Party Transactions
As set out above, an order for £262k has been placed which includes new products and related consumables to the value of £153k which fall outside the scope of the existing Agreement.
It is proposed to amend the Agreement such that the provision of the new SPE-LC System, and additional goods and services which Microsaic may develop and supply in future can be supplied to the Company in line with the current terms of the Agreement. Any such amendments to the Agreement will necessarily be made subject to the mutual consent of DeepVerge and Microsaic and include provision requiring each party to consult with its respective nominated adviser on any proposed additional goods to be added to the Agreement from time to time.
The purchase of the new products and related consumables outside the scope of the Agreement constitutes a related party transaction for the Company under AIM Rule 13, as DeepVerge directors Gerard Brandon (CEO) and Nigel Burton (Non-executive Director) are also non-executive directors of Microsaic.
The Directors of DeepVerge (excepting Messrs Brandon and Burton) consider, having consulted with SPARK Advisory Partners Limited, the Company's nominated adviser, that (i) the terms of the purchase of the additional products and consumables are consistent with both the terms of the Agreement and previous orders under the Agreement, and consider the terms of the purchase of the additional product and consumables to be fair and reasonable insofar as shareholders are concerned and (ii) the amendment to the terms of the Agreement to be fair and reasonable insofar as shareholders are concerned.
DeepVerge plc | Ross Andrews | +44 (0) 7340 055 648 |
SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nominated Adviser) | Neil Baldwin/Andrew Emmott | +44 (0) 113 370 8974 |
Turner Pope Investments (TPI) Limited (Broker) | Andy Thacker/James Pope | +44 (0) 20 3657 0050 |
About DeepVerge plc (www.deepverge.com)
DeepVerge is an environmental and life science group of companies that develops and applies AI and IoT technology to analytical instruments and the data they generate, for the analysis and identification of bacteria, virus and toxins. DeepVerge is utilising artificial intelligent data analytics to prove scientifically the impact of skincare product claims on the skin microbiome for clients including most of the top 20 global cosmetic companies and to detect remotely, and identify in real-time, dangerous pathogens in wastewater treatment plants, drinking water, rivers, lakes and reservoirs.
About Microsaic (www.microsaic.com)
Microsaic listed on AIM in 2011 to develop and commercialise micro-engineering chip-based mass spectrometry equipment. Having invested £30m over the last 20 years before and after the IPO, Microsaic has a robust patent portfolio in cutting-edge technology purpose built for "Industry 4.0" which enables analytical detection and characterisation at the point-of-need, whether within a human health environment, conventional laboratory setting, or within a bioprocessing facility for continuous mass spectrometer detection and monitoring of data at any step in the process workflow.
Microsaic's products and systems are commercially available through global markets via a network of regional and local partners, targeting its core laboratory, manufacturing, and point-of-need applications.