Oxford Nanopore sets sights on IPO

Oxford Nanopore Technologies, a UK-based genetic sequencing technology developer spun out from University of Oxford, is considering floating its shares in an initial public offering (IPO), The Telegraph has reported.
Founded in 2005, Oxford Nanopore has developed real-time DNA and RNA sequencing technology that offers biological analyses at a relatively low cost. It has applications in disease and pathogen surveillance, environmental monitoring, food supply chain inspection and microgravity biology.
The company markets portable, desktop and large-scale models of its technology. It is set to be used in clinical trials for the first time, to diagnose bacterial infections at University of Bern’s Institute for Infectious Diseases, and for genetic testing of Huntington’s disease at health system Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Trust.
Commercialisation firm IP Group has an 18% stake in the company that is expected to be worth about $355m, based on the reported $2.1bn valuation at which it last raised money in 2018, according to The Telegraph.
Neil Woodford, head of fund manager Woodford Investment Management, holds a total of 12.5% of Oxford Nanopore’s shares on an undiluted basis through different vehicles, though it has sold some of those shares back to the company to help Woodford limit its exposure to unquoted securities.
Pharmaceutical firm Amgen currently owns a 3% stake in Oxford Nanopre according to a regulatory filing, while University of Oxford, Stanford University, and Oxford Nanopore co-founders Gordon Sanghera, Spike Willcocks and Hagan Bayley own minor stakes.
Oxford Nanopore has raised approximately $656m in equity funding to date, including $140m provided by Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, Australian superannuation fund Hostplus, financial services firm China Construction Bank and unnamed existing backers in April 2018, and a $66m extension from Amgen in October.
Investment fund GT Healthcare led a $126m round for Oxford Nanopore that closed in 2016 and which included IP Group, Woodford Investment Management and unnamed additional investors. The spinout had secured $107m in a 2015 round that also included IP Group.
Oxford Nanopore’s other backers include genomics technology producer Illumina, which invested $18m in 2009, as well as Odey Asset Management, Invesco Perpetual, Top Technology Ventures and Lansdowne Partners.