Oxford Nanopore Technolo... Share Discussion Threads

[bamboo2] 26/1/2024 16:39

bones, it's the slight miss [a few %] at the lower end of expectations that caused the sell off. The miss is due to lower spend by EGP, delayed US based projects, and restrictions on chip exports to China and the Middle East.

The business isn't failing. The cash raised at IPO was planned to be used for increasing headcount to broaden the sales function, and also R&D staff to push the accuracy and competency of the tech. The Registration document was clear that the co expected to be loss making until fy 2026.

New Nanopore based products will likely be announced within four months.

[bamboo2] 26/1/2024 16:24

bones, Quite surprised that JPM haven't thrown more at it today.

[bones698] 25/1/2024 17:09

Same problem as with many shares . Heavily loss making and burning through cash . If you can't make money on the turnover they have it's concerning and hence the share price is falling hard and will continue . The market doesn't like loss makers and although long term might work out ,looking too far ahead isn't where the market is ATM .
Need to see turnover increase and losses drop significantly here before any chance of breaking this downtrend . Savage market and companies need to apart and realise you can't be loss making for years .

Interesting company and some nice products in the pipeline for sure but here and now as a business it's failing

A comparison is itm . Yes completely different sector but similar performance . Heavily loss making with plenty of cash but the market is taking it down due to the losses it's making now . The market aren't seeing potential ATM they just want to see good numbers and for highly valued potential future earners they are ignoring that to. Favour the here and now until they can prove different

[bamboo2] 22/1/2024 19:36

22/1/2024
New bacteria discovered living in patient at London hospital


[use link for whole article]


Scientists have discovered a new species of bacteria living within a patient at a London hospital.

The patient, who works as a shepherd in Canterbury, was admitted to St Thomas' Hospital with fever but blood tests could not confirm the origin of the bacteria causing his infection.

Researchers at King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas NHS Trust used a special tool called a nanopore sequencer to read long, single sequences of the bacteria's DNA at speed.

They found that the bacteria was a new species of Variovorax—a group of bacteria that lives in the soil.

Analysis of the bacteria's chemistry and genome confirmed it as a new species, never before seen by the scientific community.

The patient named the new species Variovorax durovernensis, after the Latin name of Canterbury where they live.

It was discovered in the patient's aorta — the main artery of the body's circulatory system that pumps oxygenated blood from the heart.

Lara Payne, Specialist Registrar at St Thomas' Hospital, said that the patient may have become infected during the lambing season or while feeding the sheep anti-parasite medications without gloves.

Nanopore sequencing allows clinicians to identify unusual bacteria more quickly as the equipment can be provided directly to hospitals, instead of the more time-consuming process of sending samples to specialist laboratories for analysis.

This allows doctors to provide patients with more targeted treatments and prevent serious illness, researchers said.

Dr. Luke Blagdon Snell, a clinical research fellow at King's, said: "As this (nanopore sequencing) technology becomes more widespread, we will probably discover more new microbes and uncover new ways they interact with our bodies and cause infections."

The authors note that "atypical infections" from environmental microbes are increasing, particularly among patients on immunosuppressive therapy

The scientists' discovery was published in the journal Clinical Infection in Practice.

Original article

The first reported case of human infection with Variovorax durovernensis

[32v31today] 22/1/2024 10:19

Agreed. Surprised there wasn't more competition for a role like this. It should be very very high profile. Would personally prefer to see chartered or certified as CFO plus manufacturing or scientific instrumentation experience, plus successful CFO history, but analyst/ an MD is helpful to a degree. I'm sure he referenced well with the prior Chair. This is a once in a generation company, they collectively now need to give the market more confidence in their ability...

[74tom] 22/1/2024 09:47

Glad to see the CFO change, however the new appointment has some interesting recent history;





Stood down from Clinigen 3 months after a profit warning...

Ps @bamboo2, sorry but I'm not sure myself on which date is correct! It needs the company to clarify soon rather than later.

[bamboo2] 22/1/2024 07:34

Expansion of leadership team

22 January 2024

Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc (LSE: ONT) ("Oxford Nanopore" or the "Group"), the company delivering a new generation of nanopore-based molecular sensing technology, today announces the expansion of the leadership team to support the business in its next phase of growth.

Following a comprehensive search process, Nick Keher has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer ("CFO") and Director of Oxford Nanopore, effective 22 January 2024. Nick will succeed Tim Cowper, who moves into a new role as Chief Operating Officer ("COO") after performing both the role of CFO and fulfilling most of the responsibilities typically assigned to a COO for the past five years.

Nick is an experienced life sciences CFO, having previously served as CFO of Clinigen Group and Benevolent AI. Prior to his CFO roles he gained extensive experience in the life sciences industry serving as Managing Director and Head of the European healthcare equity research team at Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and before that held roles at Investec and GSK after switching from practising pharmacy. Nick comes to the role with significant experience of financial leadership of complex, scientific businesses, and has a deep understanding of capital markets. In his role as CFO, Nick will have responsibility for the Group's finance function and investor relations.

In his new role as COO, Tim Cowper will lead the development of Oxford Nanopore's expanding international footprint and operations, including day to day operational functions such as manufacturing, tech transfer, IT, supply chain, global distribution, EHS and set up and management of international facilities.

There will be a transition period to ensure a smooth handover and the efficient completion of the Company's 2023 audit and full year financial results. Going forward in his role as COO, Tim will continue to work closely with the new CFO to drive operational performance and margin enhancement.

Gordon Sanghera, Chief Executive Officer of Oxford Nanopore, commented:

"We are delighted to welcome Nick as CFO. His experience and expertise of public company financial leadership in an innovative business environment will support our sustainable growth towards profitability. With his scientific background, he also understands the specific opportunities for life science companies. These combine with a passion to deliver impact for all of our stakeholders. I am excited to be working with Nick to drive value creation in the coming years."

"I would also like to thank Tim for his leadership as CFO - for not only building and managing our financial function through our IPO process and driving our transition to a public company, but also leading many aspects of our operations in recent years. As we continue to scale the business and enhance our supply chain to meet growing demand for our products, Tim's expertise will continue to be a significant asset to the business, and I look forward to continuing to work with him in his new role as COO"

Nick Keher, Chief Financial Officer of Oxford Nanopore, commented:

" This is a great opportunity to join a global life sciences company with a unique, best-in-class technology platform and an ambitious vision for the future. I am delighted to be joining Gordon and the team at such an exciting time in the company's growth journey and I look forward to working together to deliver the business strategy and to create long-term shareholder value."

Tim Cowper, Chief Operating Officer of Oxford Nanopore, commented:

"I am excited to be moving into this new COO role, which is critical as we further develop our sophisticated operations to support expanding customer demand. Now is a good time to enhance our management team to build on the significant growth that we have achieved over the last five years. Nick's diverse experience will help enable us to scale Oxford Nanopore to reach new heights and I look forward to working with him in this next stage of our development."

During the past five years, Nick Keher has been a director of Clinigen Group.

[bamboo2] 17/1/2024 17:10

74tom, For info I have the LAT shares expiring on the third anniversary of their issue, 22/6/2021, rather than the third anniversary of their approval, 9/6/2021

I'd be grateful if you could say which date you think is correct. The paperwork is slightly ambiguous.

"The rights attributable to a LAT Share will cease (and that LAT Share will be capable of being repurchased or cancelled by the Company) on the earlier of: (a) the date falling three years after the date of the issue of that LAT Share..."




p177

[bamboo2] 17/1/2024 08:15

UK and U.S. announce new Strategic Dialogue on Biological Security reflecting shared ambition to confront biological threats



From:
Cabinet Office
Published
16 January 2024

The UK has taken a critical step forward in protecting the nation from increased biological threats today (Tuesday 16 January), as it announces a new Strategic Dialogue on Biological Security with the United States.

The partnership builds on existing commitments made in The Atlantic Declaration signed by the UK and US in June 2023, which provides a framework for a modern economic partnership ready to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century – and will be key to bolstering the future health and economic resilience of the UK.

Working as equal partners the new Strategic Dialogue reaffirms both nations’ commitment to increase collaboration on biosecurity in the following ways:

Develop a shared understanding of research and development needs, allowing for improved responsiveness to disease outbreaks and supporting early technology assessments.
Embed a ‘One Health’ approach to bio-surveillance and biological threat detection, to develop stronger and more interconnected global surveillance capabilities across humans, animals, plants and the environment.
Pursue the development of new tools and methodologies for microbial forensics and attribution.
Promote responsible innovation in the biotechnology, health and life sciences sectors, shaping global norms and standards on biosafety and biosecurity.
Facilitate the development of next-generation vaccines and therapeutics.
Strengthen collaboration and coordination of efforts to counter biological threats.
Underpinned by the UK Biological Security Strategy and the U.S. Biodefense Strategy, the Strategic Dialogue reflects a shared ambition to protect against a growing and diverse spectrum of biological threats. These risks include future pandemics, antimicrobial resistance, a deliberate attack, as well as those that might arise from misuse of biotechnology.

Announced as part of a joint statement by the UK Cabinet Office and White House National Security Council, the Strategic Dialogue builds on the UK’s position as a global thought-leader on biological security and strengthens our commitment to work with like-minded partners to build international consensus and collaboration towards strengthened global resilience and threat deterrence.

In further efforts to strengthen the UK’s biosecurity capabilities, the Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden also announced a £2 million uplift for the Guy’s and St Thomas’ Respiratory Metagenomics Project, which uses genetic sequencing to detect pathogens and improve patient outcomes while providing crucial data sources to support surveillance of new and emerging diseases.

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said:

I am pleased to be announcing this strategic partnership with the UK’s closest ally, the United States, which reflects our shared ambitions to build resilience in the face of increased biosecurity threats.

Schemes such as the Respiratory Metagenomics Project are key to increasing our biosecurity, with the work done at Guy’s and St Thomas’ serving the dual purpose of improved NHS diagnosis and informing systems to monitor infectious diseases which threaten the health and economic security of our nation.

Professor Ian Abbs, Chief Executive of Guy’s and St Thomas’, said:

As a clinician and CEO, I’m excited by the results in our critical care units where, through metagenomic testing, we can now identify and treat infections faster than ever before. Our ambition for diagnosing within hours rather than days is becoming a reality.

The benefits of this investment in the metagenomics service will in time reach beyond our wards to provide this capability at hospitals across England, identifying emerging pathogens at a national scale.

Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Michelle Donelan said:

We are embracing innovation and cutting-edge science and technology to boost our public services and improve people’s lives. That is why we are scaling up the Respiratory Metagenomics pilot so patients can receive swifter and more precise diagnoses.

Expanding the programme will bring the transformative power of rapid genetic sequencing technology and expertise of scientists to the forefront of our NHS.

[bamboo2] 17/1/2024 08:10

The start.

Oxford Nanopore and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust showcase a world-first collaboration in infectious disease



Tue 16th January 2024

Successful pilot programme results in government funding to embed rapid pathogen genomic sequencing capability into clinical research settings to improve patient outcomes and biosecurity.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies today announced the completion and expansion of a successful pilot programme lead by a collaboration from across the genomics sector to deliver a respiratory metagenomics service with an integrated respiratory infection and biosecurity application. With a visit to the programme at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT) by the Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, the government announced the funding to expand sequencing capabilities across a consortium of NHS hospital sites. This world-first programme combines effective infectious disease management with rapid emerging pathogen detection and notification.

A three-year pilot, led by GSTT in partnership with Oxford Nanopore Technologies, and a cross-sector taskforce, to inform future implementation of rapid identification and analysis of pathogens in an NHS Intensive Care Unit environment using nanopore sequencing technology has been successfully completed. The pilot developed workflows to enable the rapid characterisation of all pathogens and their antimicrobial resistance in respiratory samples, leading to not only improved patient outcomes, but also providing an early detection mechanism for emerging pathogens. Nanopore sequencing was shown to be ideal for this rapid, accurate, targeted service in a research laboratory close to the clinical setting.

In a paper published recently in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicinei the study team found integrating sequencing technology into critical care led to rapid, targeted treatment decisions based on comprehensive insights of the pathogen(s) and drug resistance. Based on this almost half of patients had their antibiotics altered on the first day, the study authors reported a median turnaround time from sample to result of just 6.7 hours. Not only does this deliver a significant impact for clinical management, it is also anticipated to show important health system benefits in a forthcoming health economic assessment.

Metagenomic sequencing of the respiratory samples also revealed a hidden burden of infections in routinely admitted, seriously unwell sepsis patients, undetected by traditional microbiology, which can fundamentally improve management of patients with prolonged intensive care unit stays. Each year, sepsis claims around 31,000 lives and costs the NHS in England about £2 billionii.

A final crucial finding was that roughly 3% of pathogens identified by sequencing in critical care resulted in notification to infection control and public health bodies, such as UKHSA, driving a novel surveillance function for emerging infections.

Dr Emma Stanton, SVP Clinical, Oxford Nanopore Technologies, commented:

“We are delighted that this pilot collaboration has been so successful. Building sequencing capabilities across intensive care units in the UK lays the groundwork for the world’s first integrated, national respiratory metagenomics and public health detection system and could have profound implications for the navigation of future infectious diseases.”

There is a pressing public health need for greater pandemic preparedness, especially due to a 5-25% chance of another pandemic within the next 10 yearsiii. There is currently low visibility of antimicrobial resistance in pathogens and of new viral pathogens, which is made more challenging by imprecise, slow methods of characterising infections in critical care.

[32v31today] 16/1/2024 16:36

Do you recall what that means for mgt? Does it open the door to getting rid of the CFO?

[74tom] 16/1/2024 16:31

5 months until the anti-takeover shares expire, any whiff of a bid and the upside potential disappears ;)

"On 9 June 2021, the shareholders approved:

(b) a limited anti-takeover non-voting share of £1.00 in the capital of the Company (a “LAT Share”).

The rights attributable to a LAT Share will cease (and that LAT Share will be capable of being repurchased or cancelled by the Company) on the earlier of: (a) the date falling three years after the date of the issue of that LAT Share; (b) the transfer of that LAT Share to any person; and (c) a GS Disqualifying Event, JW Disqualifying Event or CB Disqualifying Event (as relevant)."

Better support on the order book today, a 25% fall is surely enough punishment for coming in below expectations!

[32v31today] 16/1/2024 16:14

Who knows. I suspect today's little lift might be as much to do with interest rate expectations as anything. Same pre (up) then post (down) Xmas with US inflation/ interest expectations. Who knows. I don't think there's any danger of missing out on potential upside any time soon.

[bamboo2] 16/1/2024 12:46

Took a few earlier

[takeiteasy] 16/1/2024 12:18

if the bottom is in, I missed it this time - will have to continue to watch closely now...

[32v31today] 15/1/2024 20:33

And cheap stock often goes up- which is exactly the point. Nothing wrong with waiting and watching though, but for me personally, I'd just be guessing doing that. Agreed, there are holes to pick, but I see most of the value coming from the future. I hope they will just ride it out. They have the cash

[gisjob2] 15/1/2024 13:46

Potential investors may as well sit on the sidelines for a bit and watch how low it goes, timing is everything.

[takeiteasy] 15/1/2024 12:34

The difference between a good investment and a good business as they say....I think a quick response on China issue may start to steady things a little :)

[gisjob2] 15/1/2024 11:52

Sadly missed targets, China issue, increasing headcount and uncertainty has pushed this down regardless of the long term possibilities. Share prices often look cheap but then proceed to get a whole lot cheaper. We know the long term case for this share but what low base will it start recovering from and when. I'm sure the share price looked cheap at 300p at the time.

[32v31today] 15/1/2024 11:36

This stock is like being at Rorke's Drift. Screaming buy at an EV of 1.3bn in my opinion. Fundamentals at a high level... tech is first rate - view unchanged; market opportunity is massive and inevitable- view unchanged; the only uncertainty is the route/ timing to get there (ie broader use in healthcare) and it seems the market is only just realising it's uncertain for some reason. They have enough cash for the ride. The current price is a massive overreaction in my view. The path has always been highly unpredictable.Unless they look like they will run out of cash (not the case) this feels like a buy when crazy cheap and hold your nerve stock. My take is the market is very wrong. I think (hope) I will be regretting not buying more at this price.

[bamboo2] 15/1/2024 11:34

takeiteasy, I reckon, based on Bulkowski's chart pattern averages, approx 150.

74tom, I get the gist of what you are saying, but I still struggle with the idea that staff hiring would be planned around forecasts in company turnover.

The miss on the lifted forecast from March 2022 is down to three basic reasons,

1, the reduction in the planned size of the EGP contract.
2, the loss of business from China, due to chip export limits.
3, delays to US based sequencing initiatives.

There's nothing the co. can do about the first one. It was likely discounted business anyway.

[takeiteasy] 15/1/2024 11:12

So what is the possible bottom share price here near term - anyone have a sense at all?

[74tom] 15/1/2024 09:34

@Bamboo2, because as I pointed out, in March 2022 they were forecasting £190-220m LSRT, so they presumably didn't plan to hire aggressively and miss top line by so much. I doubt they would budget for a decrease in revenue per head, as all it means is that revenue growth rates in future periods have to pick up the slack in order to hit the FY26 EBITDA breakeven promise.

Clearly they are still very well capitalised and likely to end the year with >£450m cash, however is is this huge cash pile which has created the problem?

It's not entirely relevant given it happened nearly 18 years ago, however Illumina reached cashflow breakeven in Q4 2005 on quarterly turnover of $23m and with cash at bank of $50m...

[brucie5] 15/1/2024 09:27

£ corridor moves very quickly each way. But whereas this looked like a temporary visitor to the upper range, it's now looking to test how low. Not quite sure what frightened investors since I see no substantive change to growth in revenues or cash runway, what am I missing..?