Archer CEO Mohammad Choucair recently spoke to Proactive regarding the company’s lodgment of a graphene biosensor patent.
Karen Tan (KT):
Hello, welcome back to Proactive, nice to have your company. And joining me today in Sydney is Dr. Mohammad Choucair, the CEO of Archer Materials. Hi Mo, Nice to see you again, as usual.
Dr. Mohammad Choucair (MC):
Good to be back.
KT:
Great. Now, fantastic news out this week for your graphene biosensor technology. You guys have lodged an international patent application to commercialise your intellectual property. Can you just first refresh us on this amazing new technology, what it’s all about and then what this patent will mean for it.
MC:
So, one of Archer’s key strategic execution priorities is to prosecute patent applications and patents related to the development of our graphene biosensor technology. And we’ve been able to do that now, so we filed for an international patent application, which helps start the process of protecting the IP related to the development of this technology. Essentially what this is, is a new asset for Archer and we’re able to then go ahead with the commercialisation. It’s the first step in the commercialisation of this technology.
KT:
Can you just tell us a bit more about this amazing technology and what it actually does for human health?
MC:
Biosensors play a fundamental role in human biology, especially in the diagnosis and detection of disease. In biosensors, you have materials, materials that perform biosensing. They detect and track molecular interactions. But there are very few materials in existence that are able to do these accurately and quickly. But at Archer, we’re using graphene in order to do this. An ultrasensitive biochemical interface to be able to, essentially, do things more accurately and more sensitively.
KT:
And that’s the amazing part and the differentiating part to your competitors, I guess. My next question was how does it stand apart from anything else like it on the market?
MC:
Well, graphene is very special because it’s been able to show biocompatibility, ultra-sensitivity to biomolecules which is, essentially, all you do in biosensing.
KT:
Yeah. Now that is amazing. And is there anything actually out there on the market like it or is it quite a ground-breaking technology?
MC:
Biosensors are not new. They have very successful end user cases. For example, pregnancy tests and blood glucose monitors. But really biosensors have taken a massive leap in the last 10 years and graphene is set to play a role in the development of this kind of biotechnology over the next decade.
KT:
It’s an exciting venture and we really look forward to it getting on the market, which hopefully won’t be too far off. But just tell us exactly what this commercialisation involves for the technology with the stage you’re now out with that patent.
MC:
Well, it’s absolutely critical for us to have a patent application because this represents a very valuable asset within the med-tech and biotechnology industries. This is an asset which is used in multi-stakeholder business models in order to leverage that IP and also generate revenue.
KT:
So what are the next steps now?
MC:
The next step is to continue progressively developing our biosensor technology, prosecute our patent application and also look for partners in the biotech and med-tech arena.
KT:
And just finally, can you just tell us what the market is actually like for this sort of technology? What’s the demand like?
MC:
It’s a multibillion-dollar industry, but I do have to say that Australia is at the forefront of the biotechnology industry and we do have a critical mass of expertise within Australia. The market really focuses on med-tech and the emergence of med-tech as part of that global, that much larger biotechnology industry where that multi-stakeholder approach, where you do have big companies, small companies getting involved and completing transactions that depend on having very strong IP is quite prevalent.
KT:
And Archer leading the way with this amazing graphene technology so very exciting times for the company. Thanks so much for your update today and I look forward to seeing you again soon.
MC:
Glad to be here. Thank you.
KT:
Thanks Mo. That’s Dr. Mohammad Choucair from Archer Materials.
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