Smartkem enters joint development agreement with Manz Asia

MANCHESTER - Smartkem, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMTK), a semiconductor materials company currently trading at $1 per share with a market capitalization of $4.4 million, has entered into a preliminary Joint Development Agreement with Manz Asia to co-develop next generation dielectric ink solutions for advanced packaging manufacturing, the company announced Wednesday. According to InvestingPro data, the company maintains a healthy balance sheet with more cash than debt and a current ratio of 2.68x.

The non-binding agreement aims to focus on solutions particularly tailored for AI chip packaging applications, building upon the companies’ existing collaboration which recently resulted in a demonstration of an advanced inkjet metalization process for packaging chips at SEMICON SEA 2025.

The proposed collaboration would combine Smartkem’s semiconductor materials with Manz Asia’s precision inkjet technology to address manufacturing challenges in 12" wafer-level packaging and large-area panel packaging for AI chips.

"Together, we intend to develop scalable, high-performance solutions that address the critical bottlenecks particularly in advanced computer and AI chip packaging," said Ian Jenks, Smartkem’s Chairman and CEO, in the press release statement.

Robert Lin, Manz Asia General Manager, noted that dielectric inks play a critical role in back-end-of-line processes, particularly in top metal layer insulation and redistribution layer patterning for advanced packaging.

The companies believe their joint efforts could potentially result in higher yield and lower cost per packaged chip, which they consider important for data centers deploying AI accelerators.

Smartkem emphasized that the preliminary agreement is not binding, and there is no assurance regarding whether or when a definitive development agreement will be executed or what the ultimate terms or outcome of such a project might be. InvestingPro analysis reveals the company faces significant challenges, with a weak overall financial health score of 1.73 and rapidly depleting cash reserves. Discover 13 additional key insights about SMTK with an InvestingPro subscription.

Smartkem develops TRUFLEX semiconductor polymers that enable low temperature printing processes for various display technologies and applications in advanced computer chip packaging. While the company achieved remarkable revenue growth of 854% in the last twelve months, InvestingPro analysts anticipate sales challenges in the current year, making it crucial for investors to monitor the company’s execution of strategic partnerships.

In other recent news, SmartKem, Inc. announced an automatic conversion of its Series A-1 Convertible Preferred Stock into common shares and warrants. This conversion resulted in the issuance of 690,788 common shares and Class C warrants to purchase an additional 1,282,412 common shares. Following this event, SmartKem reported a total of 4,431,165 common shares outstanding. In another development, SmartKem has been granted a UK patent for a new method of manufacturing microLED displays. This patented process allows for the selective transfer of necessary LEDs from a growth substrate to a display substrate, potentially reducing production costs. Additionally, SmartKem and Manz Asia are collaborating to showcase a new inkjet printable dielectric technology for advanced chip packaging. This partnership aims to address the increasing demand for AI by enabling more efficient panel-level chip packaging. These recent developments highlight SmartKem’s ongoing efforts to innovate within the electronics industry.

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