Oxford Nanopore Technologies updates
Sign up to myFT Daily Digest to be the first to know about Oxford Nanopore Technologies news.
British genomics company Oxford Nanopore has unveiled plans for its debut on the London Stock Exchange, in one of the most highly anticipated UK tech share sales.
The company hopes to build on a £2.4bn valuation achieved at its last funding round in May. Spun out of Oxford university in 2005, it has had a breakthrough 18 months after its DNA sequencing technology became essential in tracking the spread of Covid-19 variants around the world. Its devices have been used in 85 countries, and about 18 per cent of all coronavirus genomes globally have been run on them.
The company announced on Thursday its intention to float on the London exchange’s main market, revealing 109 per cent revenue growth year on year in its core business of life sciences research in the six months to June 30, with gross profit of £26.9m in the first half of 2021 and margins of 51 per cent.
While Oxford Nanopore’s primary revenue stream is universities and labs conducting scientific research, the company plans to move into the applied genomics market, such as in pharmaceuticals, food and water safety and agriculture.
“Looking further ahead, we see the potential for a global Internet of Living Things — a future in which real-time networks of biological sensors can be used to help the broadest of communities. This could include tracking the spread of viruses in people, animals and environments, which could potentially transform public health provision around the world,” said chief executive Gordon Sanghera.
For this year, the company’s leadership warned revenue growth was expected to be affected by a drop in sales of Covid sequencing tests, following the global rollout of the vaccination programme. It expected growth in the life sciences research area would help offset the decline in Covid testing revenue for the full year, “with [life sciences] revenue in [the first half of 2021] more than offsetting a £16.7m, or 72.4 per cent decline in Covid testing revenue”.
Daily newsletter
#techFT brings you news, comment and analysis on the big companies, technologies and issues shaping this fastest moving of sectors from specialists based around the world. Click here to get #techFT in your inbox
Discover more from Today Headline
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.