Versarien (AIM: VRS)  has been awarded a product development agreement for £1.95m by the Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory ("DSTL"), a part of the Ministry of Defence. 
 
The stated purpose of executive agency, DSTL, which was established back in July 2002, is "to maximise the impact of science and technology for the defence and security of the UK". 
 
Versarien outlined that the agreement is to develop graphene loaded polymer composites for certain defence related applications, the details of which remain confidential.  
 
The advanced materials engineering company said it has been awarded the agreement due to its technical applications capability ‘in conjunction with its accredited graphene quality.’ 
 
The agreement contains several work packages due for completion by 31 March 2022, including literature review, development of graphene loaded polymer composites for three specific applications, demonstration of the applications and exploitation of the applications. 
 
 "Versarien is delighted to have been awarded this Agreement by DSTL, which acknowledges the quality of our products and technical ability,” said Neill Ricketts, CEO of Versarien. 
 
He added, “We look forward to completing the project on time and to supporting the Ministry of Defence in applying graphene to military applications." 
 
Shares in Versarien have increased by 25% in the past two weeks to open 10.37% higher this morning at 39.18p following the announcement. 

Reasons to Follow Versarien

Versarien is an advanced engineering materials group that leverages proprietary technology through innovative engineering solutions. The company holds eight subsidiaries which operate under two divisions, Graphene and Plastics and Hard Wear and Metallic Products.

Commercialisation of the ‘Wonder Material’

In 2019/20 Versarien entered into collaborations with global partners. The group completed a process required to achieve the award of a £5 million Innovate UK loan. It said its focus ‘is now very much on the monetisation of the graphene technologies’ in its portfolio.  
 
The loan is for a project named G SCALE, (Graphene-Seat, Concrete, Arch, Leisure, Elastomer), covering a number of Versarien's existing collaborations, which is designed to enable Versarien to ‘significantly increase’ its manufacture of quality assured graphene.

Product Portfolio 

In August 2020, the company launched its first graphene enhanced protective face mask, which utilises Polygrene, Versarien’s graphene enhanced polymer.  The mask is a filtering facepiece designed to protect against airborne bacteria and the spread of viral infection.  
 
Versarien has also formed the Versarien Graphene Advisory Panel (VGap) to commercialise ‘the many opportunities’ of graphene.  This will focus on the dual agenda of scoping Versarien's current and future technologies, along with wider graphene related topics.

 
Expansion into China  

Meanwhile, the company plans to use Beijing Versarien Technology Company Limited, its wholly owned Chinese foreign entity, to form the base for its expansion activities in China. Additionally, it is also looking at how products that utilise its graphene can be imported.  

 
Anti-COVID-19  

In addition, last week Versarien released results of a preliminary study of modified graphene materials, which were shown to possess properties inactivating the SARS-CoV-2 virus.  
 
The report concluded that the preliminary test results show that these materials significantly inhibit viral infection and possess antiviral activity towards SARS-CoV-2. The company said the results obtained were ‘statistically highly significant with a p-value of less than 0.0001.’  
 
The report concludes that the results show GNA22 and GNA24 to significantly inhibit viral infection and suggests that these materials possess antiviral activity towards SARS-CoV-2.  
 
“While we must stress that these results have been achieved under laboratory conditions, they do demonstrate that our hybrid graphene nanomaterials have the potential to provide protection from COVID-19,” said Neill Ricketts, Chief Executive Officer of Versarien.  
 
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