Acta, the fuel cell technology enabler, have announced that it has signed its first commercial sales and distribution contract with Summit Medichem Ltd, Sumitomo Corporation's Chemicals Business Unit and subsidiary. The contract covers Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Acta's breakthrough in nanotechnology catalysts will enable the competitive launch of fuel cells to the mass consumer market.

Under the terms of the contract, Summit Medi-Chem will have exclusive distribution rights to Acta's technology, moreover it has committed to delivering commercial contracts in the first year.

This is an important first step into the critical Asian market for Acta and the company will be building on this strong foundation by seeking to develop commercial relationships with the leading Asian OEMs over the coming twelve months.

Acta proprietary nanotechnology has enabled it to develop a new, unique family of catalysts called HYPERMEC™ catalysts which breakdown the barriers to the commercialisation of the fuel cells for mass market applications. HYPERMEC™ catalysts use low cost materials, work at low temperatures, enable use of cheap, safe and environmentally friendly fuels and solve other technical issues, thereby creating the possibility of producing fuel cells for consumer products.

Acta's HYPERMEC™ catalysts are platinum free and perform as well as or better than platinum catalysts depending on which fuel they are working with. In addition, while HYPERMEC™ catalysts can function on methanol and hydrogen, the two most common fuels currently used by the fuel cell industry at present, fuel cells using Acta's catalysts can also run directly on ethanol, a safe, practical and widely distributed fuel at room temperature, which platinum catalysed fuel cells cannot.

Commenting on the Summit Medichem contract win, Paolo Bert, President, Acta said, “We are delighted to have signed the deal with Summit Medi-Chem. We believe this contract with one of Japan's leading industrial companies will enable Acta to rapidly develop a close relationship with the Japanese OEM's, who are key challengers in the race to introduce fuel cell powered portable devices to the mass market. The commitment of Summit Medi-Chem and the feedback from their customers confirms our belief that Acta's technology is scientifically innovative and commercially very promising.”

Masaaki Uemura, President, Summit Medichem added, “We are very excited about Acta's breakthrough and the development of HYPERMEC™ catalysts.

“The initial response to the technology from some of Asia's leading OEMs has been overwhelmingly positive. We are confident that we will be announcing OEM agreements over the next twelve months.”

For further information, please contact:

Melissa Rowling, Weber Shandwick
(0044) 207 067 0712
(0039) 0257 378 357
mrowling@webershandwick.com

Klara Kaczmarek,Weber Shandwick
(0044) 207 067 0670
kkaczmarek@webershandwick.com



NOTES
Acta has made a breakthrough which will enable fuel cell products to expand from early adopters to the mass consumer market. The fuel cell industry is forecast to grow at nearly 70% per annum (Source: Allied Business Intelligence) but at present there are commercial barriers that are preventing its full potential from being realised. Acta has developed a new family of catalysts that use low cost materials, work at low temperatures, enable use of cheap, safe and environmentally friendly fuels, and solve other technical issues - thereby enabling fuel cells to be transformed in to mass market products.