SkyWater Signs Production Agreement with Nautilus Biotechnology to Fabricate Novel Biomedical Devices

Rhea-AI Summary

SkyWater Technology (SKYT) signs a production agreement with Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc. to supply silicon-based microfluidic bio chips for Nautilus’ proteome analysis system. This move marks a milestone as Nautilus transitions to SkyWater’s Wafer Services program from the Advanced Technology Services, showcasing the success of SkyWater’s Technology as a Service model. The partnership aims to enhance protein analysis, precision medicine, disease marker discovery, and drug target verification. SkyWater’s TaaS model offers technical capability, product development processes, and secure manufacturing, benefiting companies pursuing next-generation protein analysis by improving efficiency and reducing costs.

Insights

Market Research Analyst

The transition of Nautilus Biotechnology from SkyWater Technology's Advanced Technology Services to its Wafer Services program signifies a maturation of their partnership and indicates that Nautilus is moving closer to commercial-scale production. This shift is a testament to the effectiveness and appeal of SkyWater's Technology as a Service (TaaS) model, which promises a seamless progression from development to full-scale production. It's essential to recognize that such progressions can lead to increased revenue streams for SkyWater as they lock in production contracts following successful development phases.

Moreover, this move may signal a broader industry trend where biotechnology companies increasingly rely on specialized semiconductor manufacturing capabilities for their biochip needs. The ability to produce silicon-based microfluidic biochips is a competitive differentiator and SkyWater's CMOS and MEMS process capabilities are well-suited to meet these specialized requirements. This could potentially open up new market segments for SkyWater and similar companies, expanding their customer base beyond traditional semiconductor applications.

Medical Research Analyst

The application of SkyWater's technology in the field of proteome analysis is a significant development in precision medicine. Proteome analysis, which involves the large-scale study of proteins, is crucial for understanding biological functions and disease mechanisms. The silicon-based microfluidic biochips that SkyWater is set to produce for Nautilus have the potential to revolutionize this field by enabling more efficient and precise analysis.

Advances in microfluidics and the production of custom-designed nanostructures are critical for the development of more effective lab-on-chip devices, which are used in a variety of biomedical applications, including drug discovery and diagnostics. The ability to tailor these nanostructures can lead to significant improvements in the performance of proteome analysis systems, which in turn can facilitate the discovery of new disease markers and drug targets. The impact on the biomedical industry could be profound, as these advancements can lead to more personalized and effective healthcare solutions.

Financial Analyst

From a financial perspective, the announcement by SkyWater Technology regarding its production agreement with Nautilus Biotechnology is an indicator of potential future earnings growth. The transition from development to production stages usually corresponds with an uptick in revenue, as development costs decrease and production volume increases. Investors and stakeholders should note that such agreements can improve profitability, especially when the products involved have high added value, such as in the case of biochips for proteome analysis.

Additionally, SkyWater's ISO 13485 certification for Medical Devices positions the company favorably within the medical technology market, potentially leading to more such agreements with other life sciences companies. It's important to monitor how SkyWater manages the scalability of its TaaS model and maintains quality standards as production volumes grow. These factors will be critical in determining the long-term financial health and stock performance of the company.

Nautilus program moves from Advanced Technology Services to Wafer Services, demonstrating success of SkyWater’s Technology as a Service model

BLOOMINGTON, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SkyWater Technology (NASDAQ: SKYT), the trusted technology realization partner, today announced it has signed a production agreement with Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc. to supply silicon-based microfluidic bio chips for Nautilus’ proteome analysis system. This marks a significant milestone for SkyWater as Nautilus transitions from its Advanced Technology Services (ATS) custom development program to SkyWater’s Wafer Services program. Through SkyWater’s Technology as a Service (TaaS) business model, the company provides customers with a unique combination of strong technical capability, rigorous product development processes and secure manufacturing, all within the same U.S. operation.

A more comprehensive understanding of proteins and their function may become an important contributor to precision medicine and in the understanding of biological functions, discovery of disease markers, and verifying drug targets. Advances in protein analysis are increasingly being co-developed across industries through advanced semiconductor manufacturing capabilities. Custom-designed nanostructures, with features orders of magnitude smaller than advanced plastics, can be produced on a large scale and precisely tailored in size, shape, and arrangement to support specific tasks. This approach not only enhances system performance but also leads to savings in materials and costs, directly benefiting companies pursuing next-generation protein analysis by improving efficiency and reducing resource usage.

Advances in MEMS, microfluidics, low-power electronics and materials science are driving innovation for the biomedical industry. SkyWater leverages its extensive CMOS and MEMS process capabilities to meet the customized technology needs of its customers. The company’s TaaS model enables chip designers to engage with the foundry early in the technology lifecycle by performing development work in a production environment. This approach accelerates time to market, ensures that quality is designed in from the start and scales easily to volume. SkyWater is certified to the ISO 13485 Quality Standard for Medical Devices to support the design, development and fabrication of DNA sequencing, lab on chip and other biomedical applications.

“As we continue to experience growth in our innovation-focused ATS development business, we are pleased to see one of our development-stage life science customers begin their transition to Wafer Services production. Our TaaS model allows customers to continue to innovate for future designs on the same tools and processes as their current product, enabling a ‘lab-to-fab' environment,” said Ross Miller, SVP, Commercial and A&D Business at SkyWater. “We look forward to continuing to support Nautilus as they move toward the commercial availability of their groundbreaking proteome analysis platform. It’s exciting to be working with their team on efforts to revolutionize biomedicine and positively impact the health and lives of people around the world.”

About SkyWater Technology

SkyWater (NASDAQ: SKYT) is a U.S.-based semiconductor manufacturer and a DMEA-accredited Category 1A Trusted Foundry. SkyWater’s Technology as a Service model streamlines the path to production for customers with development services, volume production and heterogeneous integration solutions in its world-class U.S. facilities. This pioneering model enables innovators to co-create the next wave of technology with diverse categories including mixed-signal CMOS, read-out ICs, rad-hard ICs, power management, MEMS, superconducting ICs, photonics, carbon nanotubes and interposers. SkyWater serves growing markets including aerospace & defense, automotive, biomedical, cloud & computing, consumer, industrial and IoT. For more information, visit: www.skywatertechnology.com.

SkyWater Technology Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements that are based on the Company’s current expectations or forecasts of future events, rather than past events and outcomes, and such statements are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which may cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Key factors that could cause the Company’s actual results to be different than expected or anticipated include, but are not limited to, factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and in other documents that the Company files with the SEC, which are available at http://www.sec.gov. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.

SKYT-CORP

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240215141503/en/

SkyWater Company Contact: Tara Luther | +1 952-851-5023 | tara.luther@skywatertechnology.com

SkyWater Media Contact: Lauri Julian | +1 949-280-5602 | lauri.julian@skywatertechnology.com

Source: SkyWater Technology

FAQ

What is the significance of SkyWater Technology's agreement with Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc.?

The agreement signifies a milestone as Nautilus transitions to SkyWater’s Wafer Services program from the Advanced Technology Services, demonstrating the success of SkyWater’s Technology as a Service model.

What are the key benefits of the partnership between SkyWater and Nautilus?

The partnership aims to enhance protein analysis, precision medicine, disease marker discovery, and drug target verification. SkyWater’s TaaS model offers technical capability, product development processes, and secure manufacturing, benefiting companies pursuing next-generation protein analysis by improving efficiency and reducing costs.

What does SkyWater's TaaS model offer to its customers?

SkyWater’s TaaS model provides customers with technical capability, rigorous product development processes, and secure manufacturing, all within the same U.S. operation. It enables chip designers to engage with the foundry early in the technology lifecycle, accelerating time to market and ensuring quality.

What industry advancements are driving innovation for the biomedical industry?

Advances in MEMS, microfluidics, low-power electronics, and materials science are driving innovation for the biomedical industry. SkyWater leverages its CMOS and MEMS process capabilities to meet the customized technology needs of its customers.

What quality standard is SkyWater certified to support in the medical devices sector?

SkyWater is certified to the ISO 13485 Quality Standard for Medical Devices to support the design, development, and fabrication of DNA sequencing, lab on chip, and other biomedical applications.