Why Investors Are Watching Archer Materials After a 35% Surge

What if diagnosing a serious disease was as simple as taking a home pregnancy test?

Right now, in Adelaide, a small-cap tech company, Archer Materials (ASX:AXE), is working to make that possible. Their goal is to shrink an entire medical lab onto a semiconductor chip that can analyse a drop of bodily fluid and detect the key chemical markers linked to chronic kidney disease, markers also associated with certain cancers.

This week, the market woke up. Shares surged 35% after the company announced a partnership with imec, one of the world’s leading independent research and innovation centres in nanoelectronics.

We have seen medtech breakthroughs before. Some go on to redefine healthcare, while others stall before they reach patients. The question is, which path will this company take?

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Archer Materials 12CQ Project

Archer Materials is an Australian semiconductor company working in two exciting areas: quantum computing and biosensing. In quantum computing, they are developing the 12CQ project, which focuses on creating a new kind of qubit.

A qubit is the core unit of a quantum computer and can handle many possible outcomes at the same time, unlike regular computer bits that are only 0 or 1. Archer is trying to make qubits better at sending and receiving data, and able to store information for longer. This matters because qubits are unstable and can quickly lose valuable data. If Archer can make them more accurate and stable, quantum computers could become much more reliable.

Archer Materials Lab on a Chip

Their second technology focus is a biochip, often referred to as a “lab on a chip.” This innovation compresses the capabilities of a laboratory into a device smaller than a coin. Instead of handling digital data, the chip interacts with bodily fluids such as blood, urine, or saliva.

It uses graphene, an ultra-thin, highly sensitive layer of carbon, to detect chemical biomarkers that can indicate disease. For example, in chronic kidney disease, levels of certain chemicals like creatinine or urea change as kidney function declines. When these chemicals contact the graphene surface, they alter its electrical properties, and the chip measures those changes. The goal is to enable low-cost, scalable, and potentially at-home testing that can detect health issues earlier and more conveniently.

Archer Teams Up with Global Tech Leader to Fast-Track Biochip Development

On August 12, Archer Materials announced a partnership with imec, one of the world’s leading microelectronics research centres, to advance its biochip and potassium blood sensor. The plan is to combine Archer’s cutting-edge graphene technology with imec’s expertise in silicon semiconductor manufacturing. By doing so, Archer aims to create a chip that can be mass-produced using existing global manufacturing processes.

November 2025 Set as Turning Point in Archer’s Commercial Journey

For investors, this matters because it could significantly speed up Archer’s path to market. If imec can successfully integrate graphene into traditional chip production, Archer would be able to scale its biosensor technology far more quickly and at lower cost, a major step toward commercialisation.

The first stage of research and development is expected to wrap up by November 2025. This will be a key milestone, marking the transition from concept and testing into prototype development. From there, Archer’s focus will shift toward building a final product ready for widespread use in at-home and point-of-care health testing.