Oxford Nanopore inks infectious disease analysis pact with Cepheid

Robert Barrie

Thu, Apr 10, 2025, 10:19 AM 3 min read

Oxford Nanopore Technologies has teamed up with Cepheid to velocity up infectious illness genomic analysis, blocking retired caller sound of acquisition vulnerability.

The UK biotech, a erstwhile prima of the London archetypal nationalist offering (IPO) scene, said the strategical collaboration volition assistance instrumentality genomic results of bacterial and fungal pathogens wrong hours, compared to days experienced with presently disposable technology.

Shares successful London-listed Nanopore opened 6% higher astatine marketplace unfastened connected 10 April compared to marketplace unfastened connected 9 April, the time the announcement was made.

Nanopore and US-based Cepheid person already completed a proof-of-concept survey that saw the 2 companies’ technologies combined for infectious illness analysis. The caller probe uses lone workflow present sees Cepheid's cartridge-based GeneXpert strategy utilized Oxford Nanopore's sequencing platform.

Nanopore was spun retired of Oxford University successful 2005 with pioneering exertion for sequencing nucleic acids connected handheld devices. All the company’s sequencing devices enactment by analysing agelong DNA oregon RNA fragments by monitoring an electrical existent arsenic the nucleic acids are passed done a macromolecule nanopore.

The collaboration with Cepheid – who sells the astir wide installed polymerase concatenation absorption (PCR) diagnostic instrumentality successful the satellite – aims to make a scalable, automated, and end-to-end solution for simplified nanopore sequencing workflows. The investigation is intended for usage wrong a scope of settings, including labs lacking successful expertise that would not person done in-house sequencing.

Profiling bacterial and fungal pathogens from civilization isolates volition beryllium the archetypal larboard of telephone for the partnership, with investigation straight from affirmative humor cultures besides successful the pipeline. There is besides a imaginable enlargement into further infectious illness usage cases, specified arsenic crab and quality genetics, and yet regulatory approved objective diagnostics.

"This collaboration represents an important measurement guardant successful delivering caller and improved workflow options to amended recognize infectious diseases," said Dr. Gordon Sanghera, CEO of Oxford Nanopore Technologies.

"By partnering to integrate our richer data, accelerated insights, and accessible and affordable sequencing exertion with Cepheid's GeneXpert architecture, we are establishing a workflow instauration that is positioned for aboriginal enlargement into scaled regular objective use."

The concern with Cepheid comes astir a period aft Dr. Sanghera admitted to the Financial Times that the institution had go a takeover target. Nanopore went nationalist successful 2021 connected the backmost of surging income for its sequencing devices successful the Covid-19 pandemic. At the time, it was seen arsenic a large coup for the London banal market, with companies mostly preferring to pat the much lucrative exchanges connected Wall Street. However, income dried up for the institution arsenic request for pandemic-related products waned. Despite shares having fallen 85% from a 2021 speak, Nanopore inactive boasts a marketplace headdress conscionable northbound of £1bn.