MedTech company, Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc, has secured £50 million in investment from Scandinavian life sciences investor Novo Holdings. The company, which spun out of Professor Hagan Bayley’s lab at the University of Oxford, has created a real-time DNA/RNA sequencer that can assist with accurate, rapid testing in cancer and infectious disease. Last year, it received a £70m funding injection from French firm bioMérieux SA and serves thousands of customers in more than 120 countries worldwide.
Announcing an oversubscribed £80m share placing, Oxford Nanopore noted that Novo – which had originally intended to subscribe for £60m – will now make further market purchases of up to £10m. “We are delighted to welcome this new, strategic investment from Novo Holdings, alongside continuing support from our existing investors,” said Dr Gordon Sanghera, CEO. The new shares represent approximately 8% of the company prior to the equity issue.
Over recent years, Oxford Nanopore has further developed its technology platform and commercial infrastructure and is poised for further traction in a variety of sectors. “The investment from Novo Holdings reflects our ambition in the biopharmaceutical sector,” said Dr. Sanghera. “Our technology platform is uniquely suited to address the needs of this industry where information-rich, rapid and simplified sequencing are critical to developing and delivering biopharmaceuticals faster and with less complexity. We look forward to their support.”
The UK-based company offers thousands of customers across a wide range of scientific communities access to its products worldwide. This investment is the latest success story in the rapidly growing MedTech sector.
