1 June 2022

nanosynth group plc

("nanosynth", the "Company" or the "Group")

Update on antiviral mask business

nanosynth, the AIM quoted company specialising in the synthesis and application of nanoparticles to create new and improve existing products, announces that the Company has taken the decision to evolve its mask strategy to focus on licensing its novel technology into multiple verticals rather than manufacturing masks directly.  

In conjunction with its partner Volz Holdings v.o.s ("Volz"), the Company is currently testing the spraying of its technology used within the masks directly on to the material media strands. Once this testing is concluded this is intended to allow the Company to sell the solution direct to media providers globally for the use on masks and other applications.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021, most of the world's countries mandated the use of surgical-type masks in an effort to slow the spread of the disease. Recently, most western countries have relaxed their mask mandates, including the UK, the USA, France and Germany. The subsequent material reduction in demand has resulted in a significant drop in the unit cost of standard facemasks, with wholesale unit prices dropping to below £0.03. This market shift has also eroded the premium that buyers are willing to pay for the Company's specialised ant-viral mask product and potential demand.

As a result of the market changes noted above, it is no longer considered to be financially viable for the Company to continue manufacturing masks and existing stock will be written off in nanosynth's accounts due to the incremental cost of readying existing stock for commercial sale.  The remaining stock of masks held by the Company will be made available to good causes, including local hospitals and care homes.

Mark Duffin, Chief Executive of nanosynth, commented: "With the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic, the average price and subsequent need for facial masks, particularly in Western Economies has diminished.  However, our existing work with Volz has identified significant new areas in which to apply our technology and has created numerous opportunities in a number of attractive market segments. We intend to exploit these as we continue to enhance our capability in the area of nanoparticle formulation and the production of consistent, accurate nanoparticle size and morphology."

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ('MAR') which has been incorporated into UK law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.  Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service ('RIS'), this inside is now considered to be in the public domain.

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