Oxford-based genomics firm Oxford Nanopore is set to list on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

The company, which was spun out of a University of Oxford project in 2005, provides portable and desktop tools which enable researchers to analyse DNA and RNA.

Nanopore has around 600 employees and offices in Cambridge, New York, San Francisco, Singapore, and Beijing.

The news comes after Nanopore raised £195 million in a May funding round which included Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek, Wellington Management, M&G Investments, and Nikon.

The round valued the company at £2.4 billion.

Nanopore recently reported a year-on-year revenue increase of 109 per cent and a gross profit of £26.9 million in the six months ending 30 June.

Nanopore predicts “substantial opportunity” for future growth in the gene sequencing market, which it said will grow at 18 per cent a year and will reach $5.7 billion for 2021.

Nanopore said it intends to float 25 per cent of its shares in the initial public offering (IPO) and that Bank of America, Citi and JPMorgan are set to act as global coordinators for the listing.

"We believe Oxford Nanopore is ideally suited to both disrupt existing markets and create entirely new ones,” said founder and chief executive Dr Gordon Sanghera. “An IPO will be a step on the journey to make our vision a reality, supporting our ambitious growth plans and enhancing our ability to innovate and grow."

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