British biotech giant Oxford Nanopore revenue boosted by ‘burst’ of Omicron
The muting of Covid-19 revenue at British biotechnology company Oxford Nanopore has been delayed by the “burst” of Omicron, however, related government contracts continue to dry up as cases fall.
The company had warned investors of a ‘tapering’ of Covid-related revenue last year. And has also dialled back revenue expectations for its Emirati Genome Program from £20m to £15m for the full-year, according to its preliminary results today.
Covid-19 infections in the UK have dropped to their lowest level for nearly 11 months, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed this morning.
“This year we expected a tapering down of [Covid-related] revenue compared to last year and in fact, because of the burst of Omicron in China, it didn’t taper down as much as we expected,” CEO Gordon Sanghera told City PM, adding that he expects the market to continue to shrink later this year.
Revenue from its Covid-19 sequencing and Emirati Genome Program has grown around a third in the first half of the year, “right in line with our guidance”, Sanghera said.
Company-wide, the London-listed firm more than doubled its revenue to £122.3m in the six months to 30 June, boosted by a nearly £52m government contract for Covid-19 testing, which has now been wrapped up.
The company also continued to swallow losses, which shrank to £30.2m from a £44.8m hit a year prior, amid increasing operating expenses such as energy and labour.
The company has upped its global headcount by around 100 since the end of last year, to more than 900, using cash raised primarily through its initial public offering (IPO) last year.
“While we remain mindful of the macroeconomic environment, this progress, coupled with our strong balance sheet, gives us confidence as we look ahead,” CEO Gordon Sanghera said in a statement.