Oxford Nanopore Technologies, a UK-based sequencing technology spinout of University of Oxford, raised £50m ($66m) from pharmaceutical firm Amgen today to expand its latest funding round to $206m.
The company had secured an initial $140m in March this year from GIC, the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore, Australian superannuation fund Hostplus, financial services firm China Construction Bank and unnamed existing investors.
Founded in 2005, Oxford Nanopore has created real-time, low-cost DNA and RNA sequencing technology that has applications in large-scale human genomics, cancer research, microbiology, plant science and environmental research.
Oxford Nanopore’s products include the portable sequencing device Minion, desktop version Gridion X5 and the large-scale Promethion, the latter of which is able to sequence the human genome for less than $1,000.
Amgen’s genomics subsidiary, Decode Genetics, is already using Oxford Nanopore’s technology to sequence several hundred human genomes.
The technology commercialises research by Hagan Bayley, professor of chemical biology at University of Oxford. Since 2008, the spinout has also been collaborating with researchers at Harvard University, Boston University and University of California, Santa Cruz.
Oxford Nanopore has now raised a total of £501m ($656m) in equity funding. It closed a $126m funding round in 2016 was led by investment fund GT Healthcare and backed by commercialisation firm IP Group, Woodford Investment Management and unnamed new and existing investors.
Genomics technology producer Illumina invested $18m in the company in 2009, two years before joining IP Group, Lansdowne Partners, Invesco Perpetual and Redmile Group for a $41m round.
IP Group also took part in a $109m round for Oxford Nanopore in 2015 alongside undisclosed other investors. Odey Asset Management and Top Technology Ventures are also among the company’s backers.
Image courtesy of Oxford Nanopore Technologies. The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.
