Novo Holdings, an international life science investor, announced a £50 million investment in Oxford Nanopore Technologies, a UK Listed company behind a new generation of molecular sensing technology based on nanopores.
 
Oxford Nanopore has developed a new generation of molecular analysis technology used for DNA/RNA sequencing. The technology is designed to offer rich data including epigenetics, rapid insights through real-time workflows and portable formats, in a way that is accessible and affordable.
 
The technology is used increasingly in clinical and applied industrial settings including biopharma. Access to fast, information-rich molecular information has the potential to play a critical role across the biopharma industry, from drug discovery to commercialization. 
 
In particular, direct RNA sequencing can enable biologics manufacturing and quality control processes for an emerging class of mRNA-based products, potentially replacing multiple technologies with a single, streamlined platform. Furthermore, the generation of epigenetic data (variation in DNA information that can influence many diseases such as cancer) in large-scale studies can promote discoveries.
 
Dr. Daniel Mahony, Senior Partner, Growth Investments, Novo Holdings, said, “Oxford Nanopore has made impressive ongoing progress to advance its technology platform and gain commercial traction. This investment underscores our belief in Oxford Nanopore’s platform and its expanding opportunity in biopharmaceuticals, where rapid sequencing, richer data and a streamlined platform can support discovery and delivery of new drug therapies.”
 
Dr. Gordon Sanghera, Chief Executive Officer, Oxford Nanopore added, “Novo Holdings is one of the world’s top life sciences investors, and we are delighted to welcome them as a long-term shareholder. The Novo Holdings team brings deep knowledge of the biopharmaceutical market, including biomanufacturing, a key growth area for Oxford Nanopore. We look forward to their support given our commitment to biopharma as one of our strategic growth vectors.”