Product
With a goal to increase access to genomics and optimise for positive, global impact, we are constantly innovating to broaden the accessibility of our products for global scientific communities, who are driving solutions to challenges in health, food, and the environment.
About Oxford Nanopore
Sustainable, accessible solutions
We are focused on delivering sustainable, long-term growth by making sequencing more sustainable and more accessible to genomics researchers worldwide.
We are fully committed to:
Developing smaller, easier to use, lower cost formats to enable more people in broader communities to use our sequencing devices.
Establishing comprehensive global support and logistics to fulfil our vision to enable anyone, anywhere to use nanopore technology.
Introducing new strategies to facilitate the adoption of sequencing technology for people earlier in their learning journey. We aim to inspire future leaders in biology who can leverage sequencing to address real-world problems.
Find out more in our FY22 sustainability report.
Accessibility
The cost, size, and complexity of traditional sequencing technologies have historically made genomic insight inaccessible to much of the world. We have brought technologies to the market that increase access to high-quality sequencing by making the devices available for free and charging for consumables and software licenses. By doing so, users can prioritise their personal workloads instead of making substantial large-scale investments. The devices are easy to use, and scalable – from handheld to ultra-high throughput bench top products — making nanopore technology accessible to anyone, anywhere.
Case study - faster product delivery in Asia Pacific:
In 2022, we partnered with UPS Healthcare to improve access to our devices and flow cells, by signing a fulfilment agreement that currently serves the Americas from Louisville, Kentucky.
In 2023 we extended this collaboration to accelerate deliveries of our products and consumables across the Asia Pacific region.
This logistics collaboration means that by tapping on UPS’s specialised healthcare logistics solutions, more researchers are enjoying faster delivery with less complexity, leaving more time to pursue high-impact, time-sensitive genomics research and discovery in areas such as human disease, cancer, agriculture, and more.
Impact
Our technology is positioned to provide solutions to many of the world’s greatest challenges. Scientists continue to use nanopore technology in more traditional laboratory environments in universities, industry, or government facilities, but many are also expanding the reach of science by sequencing in new environments such as jungles, deserts, the Antarctic, and the International Space Station.
As we enable the use of sequencing in these diverse environments, our goal is to pave the way for future utilisation in other environments, such as clinics or pharmacies and from farms to forks.
Case study – Rapid in-surgery tumour profiling:
Current methods for determining brain tumour prognosis and suitability for surgery are inaccurate, invasive, and time-consuming, often leading to delayed interventions for aggressive tumours.
Luna Djirackor from Oslo University Hospital utilised the MinION device to analyse over 100 tumour samples, delivering results matching those obtained weeks later by traditional methods within just a few hours.
Luna further demonstrated the potential of this approach by successfully classifying brain tumours in intraoperative samples within 91 minutes, enabling real-time decision-making during surgeries. The obtained information would have altered the surgical strategy in 60% of the cases, highlighting the transformative impact this approach can have on future surgical outcomes.
Sustainable innovation
We prioritise sustainability and resource efficiency in all aspects of our operations. Our energy-efficient devices consume minimal power, while delivering high-quality sequencing data. We are constantly optimising our manufacturing processes, materials, and packaging to reduce our environmental impact. Through responsible sourcing and comprehensive supply chain code of conduct, we ensure ethical and sustainable practices throughout our value chain.
Case study – Innovating to enable greater ease-of-use outside the lab:
Our goal is to enable the analysis of anything by anyone, anywhere. The MinION was designed to be portable and therefore accessible to a much wider breadth of users than other sequencing platforms.
To enhance ease-of-use beyond the lab, we developed VolTRAX, an automated library preparation device that eliminates the need for a laboratory. Voltrax is now evolving to have more capabilities in the form of TraxION.
This innovation not only enables in-field sequencing but also simplifies sample preparation, making nanopore sequencing accessible to non-scientists. By providing portable sequencing options, we aim to reach communities without the expertise or infrastructure, as well as classrooms worldwide.