Until recently, Bionano Genomics (BNGO) was a name flying under Wall Street’s radar. Yet, investors have taken a shine to the life sciences company in the past year and in tandem with some mighty share gains, there is a growing awareness that the company could be a force to be reckoned with in the field of cytogenetics.
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The latest analyst to present investors with the opportunity is BTIG’s Sung Ji Nam.
“We believe BNGO is on the cusp of disrupting the cytogenetics testing market currently served by karyotyping, microarray and FISH techniques and representing BNGO-estimated near-term TAM of $700mm to $1bn, driven by an expanding body of clinical evidence supporting the higher accuracy and superior workflow efficiency of BNGO’s OGM (optical genome mapping) technology,” the 5-star analyst said.
That technology powers Bionano’s Saphyr platform, which can provide “large-scale structural variation analysis involving hundreds to tens of millions of base pairs in the genome.”
Next-generation sequencing technologies (NGS) on their own, on the other hand, cannot reliably detect large-scale SVs (structural variations). And there is “growing clinical evidence” large-scale SVs can offer key insights into “diagnostic and therapeutic applications in rare diseases and cancer,” and potentially play a major role in the genetic analysis market.
For example, Nam highlights a recent study which illustrated Saphyr’s ability to analyze DNA methylation in cancer genomes at single DNA molecule level, while in a UCSF/Children’s Hospital Oakland study, Saphyr spotted an extra 18% of children with genetic diseases who went unnoticed by the standard of care testing used at present. This indicates the technology is “well-positioned to replace multiple traditional cytogenetic technology tools.”
The platform is also getting increasing use, and in the last few months alone has been taken on at Augusta University, King’s College Hospital in London, the NHS Regional Genetics Laboratory in Belfast City Hospital and at the Indalo Bio molecular genetics laboratory in Cape Town, South Africa, amounting to the first adoption of Saphyr in Africa.
“Given the recent accelerated adoption of the Saphyr platform, coupled with the strengthened balance sheet and large-scale clinical studies underway,” Nam wrapped up, “We believe BNGO is well positioned to significantly accelerate its revenue growth over the next several years.”
Therefore, Nam initiated coverage of BNGO with a Buy rating and a $10 price target. If correct, the analyst’s objective could deliver one-year returns of 34%. (To watch Nam’s track record, click here)
Nam’s colleagues project even healthier gains, and at $11.50, the Street’s average price target suggests 12-month upside of 55%. Overall, all recent reviews are positive – with 4 Buy recommendations, the analyst consensus rates the stock a Strong Buy. (See BNGO stock analysis on TipRanks)
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analyst. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.
