The Agreement involves the transfer of materials between Archer and the Partner for use in the development of electrochemical biosensors for the semi-quantitative detection of disease state markers. The materials to be used include those held in the inventory of the Partner (e.g. infectious disease antigens, antibodies, disease state sera, coupling and assay reagents) and materials in the inventory of Archer’s wholly owned subsidiary Carbon Allotropes (e.g. graphene, ink formulations, and printed graphene electrodes).
The Agreement is currently non-exclusive; however, Archer and the Partner intend to progress to an exclusive Collaboration Agreement in the near term. Due to the non-exclusive nature of the MTA, the company name of the Partner has not been stated.
The Agreement aims to contribute towards fabricating a proof-of-concept biosensor, comprising printable components capable of detecting disease state markers, such as antibodies or antigens. The Partner specializes in commercial biological detection technology and materials, and is concurrently developing and improving biosensing technology for emerging markets.
As the next steps in progressing the MTA, Archer will work with the Partner to identify technical and commercial avenues that address technology gaps in the biosensor market and are able to be serviced by low cost and multi-modal biosensing devices. A study is to be performed using in vitro diagnostic products available to the Partner for infectious disease serology, that aid in the diagnosis of viral, bacterial, parasitic and fungal diseases, while jointly assessing and optimizing the graphene and graphene ink biosensor componentry performance.
The collaboration with The University of Adelaide ARC Graphene Hub will continue with the aim of contributing to the development of a functional in vitro electrochemical carbon-based biosensor. The value-add development involves Archer’s direct access to infrastructure and personnel to prepare graphene-based materials, including functional derivatives like inks, needed for processing complex biosensing componentry and characterizing these materials to determine biocompatibilities that lead to molecular sensing.