Amgen has invested $66 million (£50 million) into portable genome sequencer developer Oxford Nanopore.
The Big Pharma hopes the investment will align with its efforts in using genomics to inform its drug development. Its subsidiary, deCode Genetics, has used Oxford Nanopore devices to sequence “several hundred” human genomes, as well as to help identify and validate new targets.
“Oxford Nanopore's long-read sequencing capability creates a window into parts of the genome that have been out of reach, as well as giving us a much better handle on structural variants that confer risk of a wide variety of diseases,” deCode founder Kári Stefánsson said in a statement.
Oxford Nanopore’s proprietary sequencing technology uses many nanoscale holes formed by proteins within a synthetic membrane. Its devices, which range from pocket-sized to high-throughput benchtop versions, measure changes in electrical current as strands of DNA or RNA pass through the holes.
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In addition, the U.K.-based company recently unveiled its MinIT data-analysis companion device, which provides the processing power necessary to characterize samples analyzed by the MinION. Able to be powered by an external battery pack, the MinIT can be used in the field and operated using a laptop, tablet or mobile phone.
For its $66 million investment, Amgen acquired stock at the same price offered in Oxford Nanopore’s $140 million raise last March—which valued the company at about $2 billion, as it aims to compete with Pacific Biosciences and the sequencing giant Illumina.