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Oxford Nanopore Technologies

Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc is a UK-based company which develops and sells nanopore sequencing products (including the portable DNA sequencer, MinION) for the direct, electronic analysis of single molecules.[2][3] It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.[4]

History

The company was founded in 2005 as a spin-out from the University of Oxford by Hagan Bayley,[5] Gordon Sanghera, and Spike Willcocks, with seed funding from the IP Group.[6] The company made an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange on 30 September 2021, under the ticker ONT.[7]

In March 2016 the company announced a chemistry upgrade to its nanopore sequencing product 'R9', using a protein nanopore in collaboration with the laboratory of Han Remaut (VIB/Vrije Universiteit Brussel).[8] The company stated in a webcast that R9 is designed to improve error rates and yield.[9]

In July 2016, a MinION nanopore sequencer was included on the ninth NASA/SpaceX commercial cargo resupply services mission to the International Space Station.[10] The aim of the mission was to provide proof of concept for the MinION's functionality in a microgravity environment.[11] During the mission, ISS crew members successfully sequenced DNA from bacteria, bacteriophage and rodents from samples prepared on Earth.[12] Maintaining the MinION device as a research facility on the space station holds the potential to support a number of additional science investigations, any of which could have Earth based applications.[13]

Products

The main products of Oxford Nanopore are:

These products are intended to be used for the analysis of DNA, RNA, proteins and small molecules with a range of applications in personalized medicine, crop science, and scientific research.[14][28]

  • MinION:[14][15][16] this harmonica-sized portable protein nanopore sequencing USB device has been commercially available since May 2015[17] after having been launched initially through an early access program, the MinION Access Program (MAP).[18]
  • GridION X5: this desktop device has been commercially available since March 2017.[19] The device processes up to five MinION Flow Cells and enables generation of up to 100 Gb of data per run.[20]
  • PromethION: this desktop, high throughput device will be available through an access program[21] that opened for registration in July 2015. The device contains channels for 144,000 nanopores (in comparison to MinION’s 512).[22]
  • VolTRAX: this device is designed for automated library preparation so that users do not need a laboratory or lab skills to run the device.[23] Registration for the early access program was opened in October 2016.[24]
  • Metrichor: this spinout company from Oxford Nanopore was set up to provide end to end solutions for biological analyses, using nanopore sensing technologies.[25][26]
  • SmidgION: a mobile phone sequencer announced in May 2016, currently in development.[27]

External links

References

  1. Annual Results for year ended 31 December 2025 Oxford Nanopore Technologies, retrieved 2 March 2026^
  2. M. Eisenstein. Oxford Nanopore announcement sets sequencing sector abuzz Nature Biotechnology, 2012^
  3. N. J. Loman, A. R. Quinlan. Poretools: A toolkit for analyzing nanopore sequence data Bioinformatics, 2014^
  4. FTSE UK Index Series Quarterly Review December 2024 FTSE Russell, 4 December 2024, retrieved 20 December 2024^
  5. {{Who's Who | title=BAYLEY, Prof. (John) Hagan (Pryce) | id = U44745 | volume = 2015 | edition = online edition via [[Oxford University Press]]}}^
  6. DNA sequencing: The hole story The Economist, 2008-10-16, retrieved 2014-10-19^
  7. London Stock Exchange welcomes Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc to the Main Market 2021-10-11^
  8. VIB announces collaboration with Oxford Nanopore Technologies on new DNA sequencing nanopore retrieved 2016-05-09^
  9. No thanks, I've already got one YouTube, 8 March 2016, retrieved 2016-05-09^
  10. Sarah Ramsey. Next SpaceX Commercial Cargo Launch Now No Earlier Than July 18 2016-06-21, retrieved 2016-07-25^
  11. Sequencing DNA in Space - SpaceRef spaceref.com, retrieved 2016-07-25^
  12. Kristine Rainey. First DNA Sequencing in Space a Game Changer NASA, 2016-08-29, retrieved 2016-10-17^
  13. Alexa B. R. McIntyre, Lindsay Rizzardi, Angela M. Yu, Gail L. Rosen, Noah Alexander, Douglas J. Botkin, Kristen K. John, Sarah L. Castro-Wallace. Nanopore sequencing in microgravity npj Microgravity, 2016^
  14. A. S. Mikheyev, M. M. Y. Tin. A first look at the Oxford Nanopore MinION sequencer Molecular Ecology Resources, 2014^
  15. E. Check Hayden. Data from pocket-sized genome sequencer unveiled Nature, 2014^
  16. E. Check Hayden. Pint-sized DNA sequencer impresses first users Nature, 2015^
  17. IP Group PLC – Portfolio company Oxford Nanopore announces £70m fundraising – IP Group PLC retrieved November 20, 2015^
  18. Nicholas J Loman, Mick Watson. Successful test launch for nanopore sequencing Nature Methods, 2015^
  19. Oxford Nanopore Launches GridIon X5 Nanopore Sequencer, Details Product Improvements GenomeWeb, retrieved 2017-07-06^
  20. GridION X5 nanoporetech.com, retrieved 2017-07-06^
  21. Community - Oxford Nanopore Technologies retrieved 2015-06-17^
  22. Specifications - Community - Oxford Nanopore Technologies retrieved 2015-11-20^
  23. Oxford Nanopore CTO Clive Brown's Talk at London Calling: MinION ASIC, volTRAX, promethION Next Gen Seek, 14 May 2015^
  24. VolTRAX nanoporetech.com, retrieved 2016-10-17^
  25. Oxford Nanopore: we want to create the internet of living things Wired UK^
  26. Metrichor metrichor.com, retrieved 2016-08-17^
  27. SmidgION - Products & services - Oxford Nanopore Technologies www2.nanoporetech.com, retrieved 2016-08-17^
  28. Erika Check Hayden. Nanopore genome sequencer makes its debut Nature, 2012^