Oxford Nanopore and bioMérieux to Enter Into a Strategic Partnership Agreement to Develop Innovative Infectious Disease Diagnostics

OXFORD, England & MARCY-L’ETOILE, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc (LSE: ONT) (“Oxford Nanopore”), the company delivering a new generation of nanopore-based molecular sensing technology, and bioMérieux SA, a world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics, today announced that they have teamed up to improve health outcomes globally by exploring selected opportunities to bring nanopore sequencing to the infectious disease diagnostics market.

The companies are jointly exploring selected opportunities to advance patient care by providing access to nanopore-based clinical research and in vitro diagnostic (IVD) solutions.

Nanopore-based sequencing is a novel technology that enables analysis of long DNA or RNA fragments. It works by monitoring changes to an electrical current as nucleic acids are passed through a protein nanopore. The resulting signal is decoded to provide the specific DNA or RNA sequence. The unique real-time, scalable features of this technology make it ideal for the rapid and cost-effective characterization of pathogens in clinical samples.

Offering rapid and accurate identification of microbial pathogens and associated antimicrobial resistance, Oxford Nanopore is uniquely positioned to deliver nanopore-based sequencing solutions that provide comprehensive results and reduce time to results for infectious diseases research and diagnostic applications.

Initial areas of collaboration will include a test for determining antibiotic resistance of tuberculosis; an assay to identify pathogens in normally sterile clinical samples; and validating Oxford Nanopore's sequencing platform with BIOMÉRIEUX EPISEQ^® CS application for rapid infection outbreak monitoring in patient-care settings.

Gordon Sanghera, Oxford Nanopore Technologies Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We are pleased to partner with bioMérieux’s IVD expertise to add powerful new tools for the fight against infectious disease. By offering rapid and accurate identification of pathogens and associated antimicrobial resistance, at scale, we hope to better equip the specialists for whom speed and access to comprehensive data is key.”

Alexandre Mérieux, bioMérieux Chairman and CEO, commented: “We are excited to enter into a research partnership with Oxford Nanopore in the field of infectious diseases. New technologies such as sequencing hold promise to improve diagnostics and patient care; our teams will collaborate in this direction.”

About bioMérieux:

PIONEERING DIAGNOSTICS

A world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics since 1963, bioMérieux is present in 45 countries and serves more than 160 countries with the support of a large network of distributors. In 2022, revenues reached €3.6 billion, with over 90% of sales outside of France. bioMérieux provides diagnostic solutions (systems, reagents, software and services) which determine the source of disease and contamination to improve patient health and ensure consumer safety. Its products are mainly used for diagnosing infectious diseases. They are also used for detecting microorganisms in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. Learn more: www.biomerieux.com

About Oxford Nanopore Technologies

Oxford Nanopore Technologies’ goal is to bring the widest benefits to society through enabling the analysis of anything, by anyone, anywhere. The company has developed a new generation of nanopore-based sensing technology for real-time, high-performance, accessible and scalable analysis of DNA and RNA. The technology is used in more than 120 countries to understand the biology of humans and diseases such as cancer, plants, animals, bacteria, viruses and whole environments. Oxford Nanopore Technologies products are intended for molecular biology applications and are not intended for diagnostic purposes. www.nanoporetech.com

Forward-looking statements

This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements. For example, statements regarding expected revenue growth and profit margins are forward-looking statements. Phrases such as "aim", "plan", “expect”, "intend", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "target", and similar expressions of a future or forward-looking nature should also be considered forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements address our expected future business and financial performance and financial condition, and by definition address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. Our results could be affected by macroeconomic conditions, the COVID-19 pandemic, delays in our receipt of components or our delivery of products to our customers, suspensions of large projects and/or acceleration of large products or accelerated adoption of pathogen surveillance. These or other uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in our forward-looking statements.

Oxford Nanopore
Media Relations
media@nanoporetech.com
Investors Relations
ir@nanoporetech.com

Teneo (communication adviser to the Company)
Tom Murray, Olivia Peters
Tel.: +44 (0) 20 7353 4200
OxfordNanoporeTechnologies@teneo.com

bioMérieux
Media Relations
Romain Duchez
Tel.: +33 (0)4 78 87 21 99
media@biomerieux.com

Investors Relations
Franck Admant
Tel.: +33 (0)4 78 87 20 00
investor.relations@biomerieux.com