Oxford Nanopore, a UK-based genetic sequencing technology that counts pharmaceutical firm Amgen and genomics technology provider Illumina as investors, expanded its latest funding round to $98.1m today.
The company secured £48.4m ($59.6m) from undisclosed new and existing investors, adding to a $38.5m first tranche in January this year. Although it has not disclosed the identity of the round’s participants, they included investors from the US, Middle East, Europe, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.
Existing investors in Oxford Nanopore had sold $106m of shares in a secondary transaction that took place alongside the first tranche.
Oxford Nanopore has created DNA and RNA sequencing technology for use in conducting biological analyses of samples of any read length at a relatively low cost.
The sequencers come in portable and large-scale formats. They are primarily pitched toward scientific research projects but are also increasingly used in regulated sectors such as healthcare and food safety.
The company recently revealed it has a Covid-19 diagnostics test called Lampore in advanced development and has worked extensively with epidemiologists tackling the pandemic. The fresh capital will fuel growth and innovation activities.
Oxford Nanopore was previously reported to be seeking about $2.1bn in a planned private placement, though that was never officially confirmed. It has now received approximately $692m in funding to date.
Amgen invested $66m to help Oxford Nanopore close a $206m round in October 2018, after an initial $140m from financial services firm China Construction Bank, GIC, Hostplus and unnamed existing investors seven months earlier.
The company had completed a $126m round in 2016 led by investment fund GT Healthcare that included IP Group, Woodford Investment Management and undisclosed new and existing backers, following $109m from investors including IP Group the previous year.
Oxford Nanopore’s other existing investors include Illumina, which injected $18m in 2009, as well as Odey Asset Management, Invesco Perpetual, Top Technology Ventures and Lansdowne Partners.
The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.