Versarien has said it is making progress in line with its strategy as it cuts its cost base. The engineering materials company said it has reduced its cost base "significantly", with its loss before interest, tax, depreciation, amortization and exceptional items at a lower run rate than in the first half of the year. As a result, it said it has seen a reduction in cash burn.

Versarien said despite its reduced cost base, it is making progress in its strategy to license its technology, brands and manufacturing expertise, divest its non-core activities and Korean assets and strengthen its scientific teams.  Versarien said it would continue to preserve intellectual property within the group whilst reducing operating costs, as it seeks to become a “manufacturing light operation”.

A team of researchers at Penn State has reported the design and fabrication of a long-term stable and highly sensitive flexible electrochemical sensor based on nanocomposite-modified porous graphene by facile laser treatment for detecting biomarkers such as glucose in sweat. 

The laser-reduced and patterned stable conductive nanocomposite on the porous graphene electrode provides the resulting glucose sensor with an excellent sensitivity of 1317.69 µA mm⁻¹ cm⁻² and an ultra-low limit of detection of 0.079 µm. The sensor can also detect pH and exhibit extraordinary stability to maintain more than 91% sensitivity over 21 days in ambient conditions. Taken together with a temperature sensor based on the same material system, the dual glucose and pH sensor integrated with a flexible microfluidic sweat sampling network further results in accurate continuous on-body glucose detection calibrated by the simultaneously measured pH and temperature.