Sequencing and precision-oncology names dominated the health and bio agenda, with a broker upgrade call on Oxford Nanopore's first-half results the standout event of the day. Elsewhere, Diaceutics pushed further into next-generation sequencing quality control with a new industry study, while clinical-stage CRISM Therapeutics cleared a key trial milestone in its glioblastoma programme.
Broker sees upgrade scope after Oxford Nanopore's earnings beat
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (LSE:ONT) delivered a first-half update that materially beat expectations on adjusted EBITDA losses, alongside improved operating-cost guidance and confirmation of a previously flagged second-half licensing opportunity. The gene-sequencing technology group's shares jumped 13.99% to 139.3p on the back of the update, which gave investors sharper visibility on second-half delivery and the full-year outlook.
Deutsche Bank responded by repeating its Buy rating and a 195p target price, a meaningful step up from current levels. Analyst Kane Slutzkin pointed out that full-year consensus currently pencils in an adjusted EBITDA loss of around £62m, well above his own £56m estimate and management's guided range of £45m to £55m. The broker also flagged strengthening confidence in the company's path to adjusted EBITDA breakeven in the 2027 financial year.
"suggests some scope for upgrades," said Kane Slutzkin, analyst at Deutsche Bank.
The gap between consensus and both management's guidance and Deutsche Bank's own numbers matters because it reframes the investment case away from a story of persistent losses toward one of a credible, nearer-dated breakeven path. If Slutzkin's thesis holds and consensus estimates move toward the tighter loss range, Oxford Nanopore's re-rating could extend beyond today's move, with the 2027 breakeven target becoming the market's next focal point for validating the sequencing platform's commercial scaling.
Diaceutics and PCC launch NGS concordance study
Diaceutics (AIM:DXRX) has launched a new study with the Precision Cancer Consortium to evaluate how consistently next-generation sequencing panels detect genetic variants in routine clinical practice, with shares in the pharma and biotech data-solutions supplier slipping 3.43% to 138.1p. The study will assess up to 20 NGS assays used in US laboratories against known reference profiles in synthetic samples, addressing testing variability as panel complexity grows.
"As the number and complexity of NGS panels continue to grow, it is increasingly important that laboratories, diagnostics companies, and the wider precision oncology community work together to better understand testing variability," said Susanne Munksted, Diaceutics' chief precision medicine officer. The initiative builds directly on the company's earlier Clinical Practice Gaps in Precision Medicine research, which had already identified improvements in biomarker testing performance running alongside rising diagnostic complexity.
The study positions Diaceutics as an arbiter of testing quality standards at a moment when NGS adoption is accelerating across US precision oncology, a role that could reinforce its data and consulting revenue streams even as the shares dipped on the day.
CRISM Therapeutics opens first site for glioblastoma drug trial
CRISM Therapeutics Corporation (AIM:CRTX), a UK clinical-stage drug delivery company, confirmed that the first clinical site for its Phase II study of irinotecan ChemoSeed in glioblastoma has been formally activated, with patient recruitment now underway. Shares held broadly flat at 11.22p, down 0.27%, as the company moves toward its next milestone of treating the first patient.
"The activation of our first clinical site and opening of the study for patient recruitment is an important milestone for CRISM and the ChemoSeed programme," said Christopher McConville, chief scientific officer. Garth Cruickshank, Emeritus Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Birmingham and a member of CRISM's Scientific Advisory Board, noted that glioblastoma remains one of the hardest cancers to treat, with recurrence often occurring near the site of the original tumour.
Site activation is a modest but necessary step for a clinical-stage company with no marketed product, and the muted share reaction reflects a market waiting for tangible clinical data rather than procedural progress. The real catalyst will be confirmation that the first patient has been dosed, expected as the next disclosed update.
