Oxford Nanopore gets US$140 million to support commercial expansion

KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Bernama) -- Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd, the company behind the only portable real-time DNA/RNA sequencer, MinION, has raised £100 million (US$140 million) in new investment from global investors.

The investors include GIC (Singapore), China Construction Bank International (CCBI, China), Hostplus (Australia), and existing investors.

Oxford Nanopore, in a statement, said the funds would be used to support the company's next phase of commercial expansion.

This includes a new high-volume, high-tech manufacturing facility in Oxford to meet accelerating demand for Oxford Nanopore's sequencing technology, and growth of the commercial team that already serves more than 70 countries.

In addition, the funds will also be used to support R&D as Oxford Nanopore expands its suite of nanopore analysis devices.

The currently available pocket MinION and desktop GridION are being joined by high-throughput modular sequencing with PromethION and small, single-test sequencing with Flongle.

This expanded range is designed to address all parts of the existing DNA-sequencing market, as well as enabling new applications that can only be performed with a real-time, scalable, long-read technology.

Oxford Nanopore technology uniquely enables direct RNA sequencing, providing full-length transcript and viral genome profiling, precise quantification, the ability to identify modified bases in real time, and simplifying workflows.

"We are driving a change in how scientists and industries access DNA information, by introducing smaller, accessible, low-cost formats, including our forthcoming smartphone sequencer SmidgION," said chief executive officer of Oxford Nanopore, Dr Gordon Sanghera.

The company also announced the forthcoming construction of a new bespoke 34,000-sq ft manufacturing facility on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, a new facility representing a significant increase in Oxford Nanopore's manufacturing capabilities.

The company is headquartered in Oxford, UK, with expanding global operations.

-- BERNAMA