Oxford Nanopore receives £70m investment from bioMérieux SA and announces Mayo Clinic collaboration

Oxford Nanopore Technologies has strengthened its relationship with diagnostics giant bioMérieux SA, with the latter making an immediate £70 million investment via a share subscription into the Oxford-based life sciences group.

The investment follows on from the partnership announced in April this year and will develop products in Oxford Nanopore's portfolio to serve in vitro diagnostics (IVD) markets alongside bioMérieux's commitment to advancing public health around the world.

READ MORE: Oxford Nanopore revenues drop, but its science research revenues are up

The statement also revealed that bioMérieux expects to buy more Oxford Nanopore's shares from time to time - up to a further 3.5% - subject to availability and price.

Oxford Nanopore has developed a new generation of nanopore-based sensing technology for real-time, scalable analysis of DNA and RNA. It works by monitoring changes to an electrical current as nucleic acids are passed through a protein nanopore.

As part of the transaction, the two companies will establish an IVD advisory board to advance nanopore technology into routine clinical use.

"With bioMérieux's strategic investment and our shared commitment to innovation, we are poised to accelerate the development of nanopore-based IVD solutions," said Gordon Sanghera, Oxford Nanopore Technologies CEO.

Pierre Boulud, bioMérieux CEO, added: "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."

In a separate statement, also on October 19, Oxford Nanopore Technologies announced a multi-year joint development collaboration with non-profit group Mayo Clinic to develop new clinical tests for diseases and improve patient care.

The pair have identified several areas of development, from translational research in human genetics to detection of genetic predisposition to cancer.

"Pairing Oxford Nanopore's innovative nanopore sequencing with Mayo Clinic's world-class clinical and diagnostic testing knowledge further helps advance patient care," said Bobbi Pritt, M.D., interim chair of Mayo Clinic's department of laboratory medicine and pathology.

Collaboration activities will take place on Mayo Clinic's campus in Minnesota, USA.

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