Oxford Nanopore is reportedly eyeing a $2.1bn private placement that could offer an exit to Woodford Investment Management.

Oxford Nanopore, the UK-based genetic sequencing technology spinout of University of Oxford, is to seek £1.6bn ($2.1bn) in a forthcoming private placement, The Times reported yesterday. The purported transaction could help Woodford Investment Management, soon to close having failed to restore its liquidity, by enabling the firm to sell down equity that reportedly represents the biggest stake in its portfolio by market value. It is unclear how the move tallies with earlier suggestions that the spinout was looking to go public. Founded in 2005, Oxford Nanopore has devised real-time DNA and RNA sequencing technology that offers biological analyses at comparatively low cost, meeting potential applications in disease and pathogen surveillance, as well as environmental monitoring, food supply chain inspection and microgravity biology. An ionic current is passed through an array of protein nanopores laid on top of electrically-resistant polymer, enabling researchers to investigate specific sequences as the DNA strands are pushed through the newly-charged cavities. Oxford Nanopore has cumulatively raised about $656m in equity funding, including $140m raised in April 2018 from Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, superannuation fund Hostplus, financial services firm China Construction Bank and unnamed existing backers, before drug firm Amgen supplied a $66m extension in October 2018 at a reported $2.1bn valuation. GT Healthcare had previously led a $126m round closed in 2016 with participation from Woodford, commercialisation firm IP Group and unspecified additional investors, after a $109m round in 2015 that included a $21.6m contribution from IP Group. Oxford Nanopore’s shareholders also include genomics technology producer Illumina, which supplied $18m in 2009, as well as Invesco Perpetual, Odey Asset Management, Top Technology Ventures and Lansdowne Partners.

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