Twist Bioscience to Go Public

Washington, DC 10/2/18—Synthetic DNA supplier Twist Bioscience has filed with the US SEC to publicly offer its common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market. Pricing information is not yet available. For the first nine months of fiscal year 2018, company revenues jumped 133.1% to $17.0 million (see Bottom Line), with gene shipments up 101.6% to 176,292 genes. Gingko Bioworks accounted for 32% of sales. The company has cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $92.5 million as of June 30. Its accumulated deficit stands at $191.1 million.

Twist Bioscience provides synthetic genes (70% of revenues), oligo pools (13%), DNA libraries (7%) and target enrichment kits for NGS (10%). Industrial chemicals (73% of revenues) and academic research (25%) account for the majority of customers. The company’s plans include establishment of a manufacturing site in China, and further development of antibody libraries and library screening services. The company has 221 employees.

According to the filing, Twist Bioscience’s silicon chip-based synthesis platform provides advantages in throughput, scalability and cost. The company stated that it charges $0.09 for a 300–1,800 bps-length genes versus competitors’ pricing of $0.15–$2.00 for an order of 150 base pairs. Company shareholders include Illumina, which holds an 8% stake.

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