Nanoco Group plc (LON:NANO), a world leader in the development and manufacture of cadmium-free quantum dots and other specific nanomaterials emanating from our technology platform, will hold its Annual General Meeting later this morning in a virtual format due to the restrictions caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. Details of the arrangements were included in the Notice of Meeting issued on 17 November 2020.
Dr Christopher Richards, Nanoco’s Chairman, will make the following statement in respect of the first four months of the financial year ending 31 July 2021.
Operational and trading update
We continue to deliver R&D services under a number of development programmes with different customers in the sensing and display markets, the most significant of which is the work with ST Microelectronics N.V. (‘ST Micro’). Good progress has been made on this project during the Period and we are now negotiating its potential next phase.
On 25 November 2020, we also announced that we had successfully secured a project grant from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, to develop a heavy metal-free quantum dot testing kit for the accurate and rapid visual detection of SARSCoV-2 (“Covid-19”). This funding creates a potential third opportunity for future revenue, on top of the Group’s activities in Sensing and Display, whilst maintaining Nanoco’s cash runway.
Financial performance in the Period has been in line with the Board’s expectations. The Board remains focussed on new commercial revenues to sustain the Group’s organic activities in H2 FY21 and beyond, with contingency plans in place if needed.
Samsung Litigation Update
The litigation against Samsung is proceeding in line with expectations. A trial date has been set for October 2021, but this may experience delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As expected, Samsung have submitted requests for Inter Partes Reviews (‘IPR’s) of the patents relevant to the case with the US Patent Office and these are being managed as a normal part of the litigation process. The Board’s confidence remains high that we will obtain a positive outcome.
