Oxford Nanopore Technologies PLC on Monday said it expects to report half-year growth and the nanopore sequencing firm backed yearly guidance.

Oxford Nanopore said revenue from its core Life Sciences Research Tools segment increased 22% on-year to £86 million in the six months to June 30.

Underlying top-line growth from the unit, which does not include Covid-19 sequencing nor revenue from the Emirati Genome Program, is expected to be 46% at constant currency.

The EGP is a programme in Abu Dhabi that will use Oxford Nanopore’s sequencing technology to study the genetic make-up Emiratis.

Looking ahead, Oxford Nanopore left annual guidance unchanged. It expects Life Sciences Research Tools revenue to grow 16% to 30% at constant currency for 2023. Revenue at LSRT in 2022 amounted to £146.8 million, a 16% rise on a reported basis, and 10% at constant currency. Group revenue overall had totalled £198.6 million in 2022, jumping 49%, or 43% at constant currency.

‘Underlying LSRT revenue, excluding revenue from the EGP and Covid-19 sequencing, is expected to grow by more than 30% per annum on a constant currency basis in both 2023 and in the medium term,’ it said.

It targets a gross margin above 60% for the unit this year and more than 65% for the medium-term. The unit’s margin in 2022 rose to 56.3% from 53.8% in 2021.

Looking further ahead, and based on ‘current development and commercialisation plans’ it still targets a 2026 breakeven at an adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation level.

‘We have delivered strong underlying revenue growth in the first half of 2023, as demand for our technology continues to grow from an increasingly broad and diverse base of customers. We have also made considerable progress positioning the business for future growth: launching a number of innovative new products and platform updates that provide users with higher accuracy and richer data than ever before; forming significant collaborations to open up new opportunities in clinical and applied markets; and investing to ensure we have the required levels of inventory to support the continued expansion of our customer base,’ Chief Executive Officer Gordon Sanghera said.

Shares in the company rose 3.3% to 230.41 pence each in London on Monday morning.

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