9 January
2025
Ilika plc
('Ilika,'
the 'Company,' or the 'Group')
Stereax Micro-battery
Manufacturing Equipment Commissioning Completed at Cirtec Medical's
Facilities; Production of Batteries for Process Qualification
Commenced
Ilika (AIM:
IKA), an independent global expert in solid state battery
technology, announces that the production of Stereax batteries for
process qualification has now commenced.
In July
2024, Ilika confirmed that installation of its key equipment had
been substantially completed in Cirtec Medical's facility in
Lowell, MA, USA. Ilika can now confirm its equipment has been
commissioned and successfully passed its User Acceptance Tests
(UATs). These production tools include layer deposition machines as
well as alignment and patterning machines. This final stage in the
commissioning of Stereax new manufacturing facilities means that
both Cirtec and Ilika are now satisfied that the equipment meets
its requirement for the start of production transfer.
To support
equipment commissioning, since June 2024, Ilika has delivered a
series of batches of cathode-coated wafers to Cirtec, for further
processing and verification of subsequent process steps. Process
qualification has the aim of refining and tuning the process
equipment to achieve specified product performance in preparation
for the start of product manufacturing. Ilika currently retains and
will operate part of the production equipment in the UK, including
that for cathode deposition and cell formation and
testing.
In August
2023, Ilika and Cirtec Medical announced that they had concluded
contractual negotiations by signing a ten-year manufacturing
licence to produce the Stereax range of mm-scale batteries at
Cirtec's facility in Lowell. This partnership will reinforce
Cirtec's ongoing activities in system level miniaturisation for the
medical device industry, whilst Ilika will focus on advanced
technology development and IP licensing in support of Cirtec's
manufacturing and commercialisation activities.
Graeme Purdy, Ilika Chief
Executive Officer, said: "We are delighted to
announce that Stereax is now one step closer towards starting
production and enabling its deployment into miniature active
medical devices. We thank Cirtec and Ilika colleagues for their
effort into completing the transfer of Stereax production equipment
to the Lowell facilities."
Brian Highley, Cirtec Medical
Chief Executive Officer, said: "This
marks a pivotal achievement in the collaboration between Ilika, a
leader in advanced miniaturised solid state battery technology, and
Cirtec, renowned developing and manufacturing implantable medical
devices and complex catheters and delivery systems. By leveraging
our combined expertise, the Stereax battery integrates high-energy
density with reliable durability and long battery life, offering
enhanced efficiency and miniaturisation for a variety of medical
applications."
Enquiries:
|
Ilika Plc
Graeme Purdy, Chief Executive
Jason
Stewart, Chief Financial Officer
|
www.ilika.com
Via FTI
Consulting
|
|
|
|
|
Cavendish Capital Markets
Limited (Nomad and Broker)
Peter
Lynch
Neil
McDonald
|
+44 (0)131 220 9772
+44 (0)131
220 9771
|
|
|
|
|
FTI Consulting (Comms
Advisors)
Ben
Brewerton
Elizabeth
Adams
Dwight
Burden
|
ilika@fticonsulting.com
|
About Ilika
plc - https://www.ilika.com
Ilika
specialises in the developing and commercialisation of solid-state
batteries. The Company's mission is to rapidly develop leading-edge
IP, manufacture and license solid state batteries for markets that
cannot be addressed with conventional batteries due to their
safety, charge rates, energy density and life limits. The Company
achieves this by using ceramic-based lithium-ion technology that is
inherently safe in manufacture and usage, higher thermal tolerance
and easier to recycle which differentiates our products from
existing batteries.
The Company
has two product lines. Its Stereax batteries which are designed for
powering miniature medical implants, industrial wireless sensors
and specialist Internet of Things (IoT) applications and the
Goliath large format batteries designed for EV cars and cordless
appliances.
About Cirtec
Medical
Cirtec
Medical is a vertically integrated, full-service outsource partner
providing end-to-end product design, development and manufacturing
of Class III and II medical devices and components. Cirtec
specialise in today's most advanced product technologies including,
neuromodulation, implantable drug delivery, cardiac rhythm
management, ventricular assist and minimally invasive systems
including TAVR/TMVR. Cirtec has a global footprint with facilities
in Brooklyn Park, MN; Chandler, AZ; Enfield, CT; San Jose CA,
Lowell, MA, Coyal Free Zone, Costa Rica and Birkenfeld,
Germany.
