Oxford Nanopore Technologies shares rose sharply on Thursday after the firm revealed details of a multi-million pound investment.
The London-listed biotech group, which spun out of Oxford University in 2005, told investors it had secured a £70million investment from French in-vitro diagnostics group bioMérieux.
As a result of the investment, bioMérieux now owns 3.5 per cent of Oxford Nanopore’s shares and expects to increase this ‘from time to time, subject to availability and price’.
Investment: Oxford Nanopore Technologies shares rose sharply after the firm revealed details of a multi-million pound investment
Oxford Nanopore shares were up 17.07 per cent or 32.10p to 220.20p on Thursday afternoon, having slipped around 10 per cent in the last year.
The cash will support Oxford Nanopore’s further development of its ‘groundbreaking’ nanopore-based IVD technology.
As part of the agreement, an IVD Advisory Board will be set up to advance nanopore technology in clinical applications.
Gordon Sanghera, Oxford Nanopore’s chief executive, said: ‘This investment will enable us to deliver rapid, accessible, and affordable clinical tools more quickly to address unmet needs and improve healthcare worldwide.’
Oxford Nanopore added: ‘Together, the companies are driving to meet a significant unmet need in the clinical and diagnostic markets- an opportunity where nanopore sequencing is uniquely suited to deliver impact where information-rich, rapid, accessible, and affordable sequencing are critical.’
Pierre Boulud, bioMérieux’s boss, said: ‘This investment will reinforce our existing partnership with Oxford Nanopore and provide more resources for the development of innovative IVD solutions.
‘Drawing on our six decades of expertise in the in vitro diagnostic space, we consider that the new generation of sequencing technology developed by Oxford Nanopore holds promise to answer future diagnostic needs and will further improve patient care, in particular against the ever-growing infectious diseases threat.’
On top of the £70million investment, Oxford Nanopore unveiled a fresh partnership with US healthcare group Mayo Clinic to develop new clinical tests for diseases, including the detection of genetic predisposition to cancer, plus other tests to improve patient care.
It reaffirmed its target to EBITDA breakeven by 2026.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: ‘These updates have provided a major tailwind to its shares which have soared by almost a fifth in today’s session, helping to reverse some of its year-to-date decline.
‘In September it reported some challenging results with first half revenue slumping almost 30 per cent to £86million and gross profit down 37 per cent to £49.5million.’
She added: ‘Born from a spin out of the University of Oxford in 2005, Oxford Nanopore floated on the stock market two years ago at the height of the pandemic in September 2021, making it the third biggest biotech listing of that year.
‘Its technology was instrumental in terms of identifying and tracking the spread of Covid variants across many countries.
‘With government covid testing contracts ending last year, the company is trying to navigate how to deliver results in a post pandemic world.
‘Initially spiking in the months after its IPO, shares in Oxford Nanopore have struggled since December 2021, shedding around 60 per cent over the past two years even after today’s bounce.’
