London Calling 2025 Technology Update: Oxford Nanopore unveils path to a true multiomics future
From distributed sequencing to high output, Oxford Nanopore’s unique offering empowers real-time insights, consistent results, and multiomic discovery
Today, at its flagship annual conference, London Calling, Oxford Nanopore unveiled a series of technology and platform updates that mark the next step in its evolution, from fast-paced visionary to a company determined to execute well on a strong product pipeline, aimed at solving user needs and driving the next era of biology.
While scientific innovation remains central, the company is adding focus to sharpening existing workflows and devices, and delivering a robust, simplified product line-up that supports consistency and quality at scale.
At the same time, Oxford Nanopore’s longer-term pipeline remains bold, with significant advances into proteomics, and the decentralisation, and scaling, of sequencing to deliver a truly ubiquitous technology platform.
The full Technology Update presentation is available to watch below:
Robust and high-performance technology for today’s community
Over the last few years, Oxford Nanopore has released a stream of new chemistries, tools, and workflows, to expand the platform’s capabilities. In 2025, these innovations have matured into a streamlined, production-ready foundation.
The core chemistry is now stable and consolidated, delivering greater consistency, predictability, and performance across applications. The platform is centred around two flow cell types (MinION and PromethION), which are scalable through a range of devices.
Current device portfolio and evolved commercial model:
By moving beyond entry-level starter packs and aligning pricing with industry standards, the technology is now more accessible to a wider range of users - from individual labs to national-scale research programmes - while also supporting adoption across Clinical, Applied Industrial, and BioPharma markets.
Current device portfolio and evolved commercial model:
By moving beyond entry-level starter packs and aligning pricing with industry standards, the technology is now more accessible to a wider range of users - from individual labs to national-scale research programmes - while also supporting adoption across Clinical, Applied Industrial, and BioPharma markets.
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- The GridION is also available as Q-line for which the company is seeking CE-IVD certification to accelerate CE-IVD partners
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Integrated analysis and software improvements
As the hardware and chemistry have matured, so too has the software that drives Oxford Nanopore’s platform. In 2025, significant advances in machine learning and data analysis are enabling users to extract faster, richer, and more biologically meaningful insights.
Oxford Nanopore’s Machine Learning teams have expanded their focus beyond basecalling, investing deeply in secondary analysis to onboard these important tools into a fully supported infrastructure – supporting the growing use in applied markets.
Integrated analysis and software improvements
As the hardware and chemistry have matured, so too has the software that drives Oxford Nanopore’s platform. In 2025, significant advances in machine learning and data analysis are enabling users to extract faster, richer, and more biologically meaningful insights.
Oxford Nanopore’s Machine Learning teams have expanded their focus beyond basecalling, investing deeply in secondary analysis to onboard these important tools into a fully supported infrastructure – supporting the growing use in applied markets.
Oxford Nanopore’s basecaller, Dorado, will include a high-performance variant caller. This increases consistency and accelerates workflows, especially in production environments where speed and reproducibility matter.
The platform’s modification calling continues to develop with over ten modifications now supported. The accuracy of methylation detection is unparalleled and continues to increase with each release of Dorado.
The team talked about the platforms short fragment mode enabling the sequencing of amplicons and panels – a growing area of application across oncology, pharmacogenetics, and infectious disease.
High-accuracy reads of fragments down to 50 bp
Compatible with hybrid capture, amplicon, and other targeted methods.
Adaptive sampling, once a niche feature, is now in routine use across the community. This real-time enrichment method enables users to selectively target regions of interest during sequencing, at the click of a button, bypassing the need to spend time doing upfront sample manipulation and enrichment.
Through collaborations with the community (Hifiasm-ONT), Oxford Nanopore has made partially phased, near-telomere-to-telomere (T2T) genome assemblies widely accessible. An updated and simplified workflow allows near-complete diploid genomes to be assembled from a single flow cell, with reduced computational demand.
For full T2T genomes, the teams have delivered 34/46 complete chromosomes with the multi-mode approach launched last year, showing the ability to generate state of the art assemblies in an automated fashion.
All these developments are being progressively integrated into the operating software, MinKNOW, and the informatics platform, EPI2ME for easier adoption.
Future development on a platform with headroom
Looking ahead, Oxford Nanopore is focused on unlocking the next phase of potential from its already high-performing platform. The year ahead will bring a series of continuous improvements designed to increase output, improve fidelity, and streamline workflows, enabling users to achieve more across a broad range of applications.
Driving toward higher outputs and lower cost per genome
Oxford Nanopore is advancing output and consistency enhancements, targeting a 60-70% output enhancement into 2026. These efforts are driving toward a key milestone of 200 Gb per flow cell through enhancements in chemistry.
Driving toward higher outputs and lower cost per genome
Oxford Nanopore is advancing output and consistency enhancements, targeting a 60-70% output enhancement into 2026. These efforts are driving toward a key milestone of 200 Gb per flow cell through enhancements in chemistry.
1. High throughput workflow, currently in advanced development, will allow more samples per flow cell, achieving higher reliability and lowering the cost per genome.
2. Flow cell improvements will reduce pore blockage and improve run consistency, to deliver higher data outputs without the need to wash and re-load samples including on long fragment libraries.
3. Increased output kit chemistries are in development, targeting high throughput human applications to pair with improved flow cells to deliver a step change in performance.
These improvements will be rolled out first in high-throughput human genomics projects, where cost-per-genome is most critical, before wider release across the portfolio.
RNA analysis for biopharma applications
Alongside gains in DNA sequencing, Oxford Nanopore continues to advance its unique RNA capabilities, making direct RNA workflows and cDNA kits more robust, higher throughput, and suitable for a growing set of translational applications.
RNA analysis for biopharma applications
Alongside gains in DNA sequencing, Oxford Nanopore continues to advance its unique RNA capabilities, making direct RNA workflows and cDNA kits more robust, higher throughput, and suitable for a growing set of translational applications.
Future updates to the cDNA kits workflows will enable longer reads and higher output, delivering industry-leading performance
These updates will support biopharma applications beyond mRNA vaccine quality control (QC), including drug discovery, sterility testing, and exploring tissue-specific RNA modifications.
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The longer-term innovation pipeline is ambitious and intentional
Beyond immediate improvements in performance and scale, Oxford Nanopore is investing in the next wave of platform evolution. These efforts reflect the company’s long-standing commitment to democratising sequencing and enabling true multiomic analysis in any setting, from applied labs to population-scale programmes.
A roadmap to proteomics
Having built a mature platform for DNA, RNA, and epigenetic analysis, Oxford Nanopore is now making significant strides into direct protein analysis – the next step in its complete multiomic offering.
A roadmap to proteomics
Having built a mature platform for DNA, RNA, and epigenetic analysis, Oxford Nanopore is now making significant strides into direct protein analysis – the next step in its complete multiomic offering.
The company is currently developing two complementary approaches: one focussed in detecting protein biomarkers, and another designed for scalable protein barcoding. Both workflows are in development, with future potential to enable the direct detection and characterisation of full-length proteins.
1. In development – protein barcoding
2. In development – protein biomarker detection
3. In research – full length protein identification
4. Future – affinity (DNA readout)
5. Future – de novo sequencing
A decentralised end-to-end, sample-to-answer offering
Oxford Nanopore is also developing a sample-to-answer offering, which will consist of a powerful combination of integrated technologies - such as the low-power ‘SmidgION chip’ - to support lab-free sequencing in applied markets. This offering combines multiple elements, from sample prep to integrated computing and automation.
A decentralised end-to-end, sample-to-answer offering
Oxford Nanopore is also developing a sample-to-answer offering, which will consist of a powerful combination of integrated technologies - such as the low-power ‘SmidgION chip’ - to support lab-free sequencing in applied markets. This offering combines multiple elements, from sample prep to integrated computing and automation.
Automated sample prep technologies for simplified workflows
Designed for ease of use, low cost, and high scalability in field, clinical, and industrial settings
Integrated sequencing and compute hardware for turnkey deployments
Fully automated, reel-to-reel manufacturing to scale with demand
Scaling up with ASIC innovation
To support ultra-high output and broaden the platform’s analytical capacity, Oxford Nanopore continues to invest in both advanced semiconductor technology and the development of a voltage-controlled ASIC.
Scaling up with ASIC innovation
To support ultra-high output and broaden the platform’s analytical capacity, Oxford Nanopore continues to invest in both advanced semiconductor technology and the development of a voltage-controlled ASIC.
This architecture is being designed to handle any analyte, from DNA and RNA to proteins and beyond, enabling massive data generation while reducing system complexity and cost.
Voltage-controlled chip design allows for higher throughput and flexibility
Capable of processing signals from diverse analytes
Forms the hardware backbone for future sample-to-answer systems
Reinforces ONT’s position as the only single-platform solution for multiomic data
Oxford Nanopore’s long-term roadmap is not only ambitious, but intentional, targeted, and deeply aligned with its founding mission: to enable the analysis of any living thing, by anyone, anywhere.