The Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) meeting celebrated its 25th anniversary in sunny Marco Island, Florida, with the customary mix of big name speakers addressing researchers and executives in the next-generation sequencing (NGS), single cell, and spatial fields (including Ewan Birney, PhD, deputy director of EMBL) and beyond (former U.S. President Bill Clinton). Most of the attention focused on product announcements by key companies in the field and those that wish to be, many of them are summarized below.
This A-List presents two lists of sequencing instrument providers. One list includes eight companies that provide NGS instruments. The other includes three companies that provide Sanger sequencing-based instruments. (One company, Thermo Fisher Scientific, appears in both lists). Also listed separately are three companies whose sequencing offerings consist primarily of workflow solutions—Agilent Technologies, QIAGEN, and Revvity. As with last year’s A-List, each company is listed by name followed by a short description of their recent activity.
Not included this year is Singular Genomics. Over the past year, Singular has pivoted to spatial sequencing through its G4X® Spatial Sequencer, announcing an early access program in February with initial shipments planned for June. On February 21, a Deerfield Management affiliate closed on its acquisition of Singular for $20 a share—a $50.2 million deal based on Singular’s 2.51 million outstanding shares, according to FactSet data. The deal took Singular private and changed its leadership, with a reconstituted board and a change of CEOs.
Providers of NGS Instrumentation |
Element BiosciencesThroughout 2025, Element Biosciences plans to roll out a series of upgrades or “Innovation Roadmap” for the top-tier AVITI24™ sequencing system it introduced last year. Among enhancements set for the second half of this year are direct in-sample sequencing for a wide range of new use cases, including completely library-prep free, unbiased whole transcriptome, and targeted RNA sequencing. Privately-held Element disclosed an estimated 2024 revenue of approximately $60 million in January at the 43rd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. |
IlluminaIllumina has announced a spatial technology program designed to help researchers examine the spatial proximity of millions of cells per experiment, set for commercial release in 2026. The longtime NGS leader also announced a single cell collaboration with Broad Clinical Labs, and a collaboration with Nvidia to apply genomics and AI to analyze and interpret multiomic data in drug discovery, clinical research, and human health. In March, China banned the import of Illumina sequencers, in apparent retaliation for President Donald Trump levying tariffs on the country. Illumina finished 2024 with a $1.223 billion net loss on revenue of $4.372 billion. |
MGI TechMGI Tech has unveiled through U.S. subsidiary Complete Genomics two new upgraded versions of its DNBSEQ next-gen sequencing system. One is DNBSEQ-T1+, a mid-throughput instrument designed to complete a paired end 150 sequencing workflow in 24 hours with Q40 accuracy, a throughput range of 25–1,200 Gb, and a maximum capacity exceeding 1 Tb daily. The other new sequencer, DNBSEQ-E25 Flash, is an upgraded version of the existing portable DNBSEQ-E25 sequencer that leverages AI-optimized protein engineering for enhanced signal intensity and precision, building on self-luminescence technology and a CMOS-based flow cell. |
Oxford Nanopore TechnologiesDeclaring 2025 “the year of the proteome,” Oxford Nanopore Technologies co-founder and CEO Gordon Sanghera has highlighted his company’s commitment over the next five years to combine proteomics with multiomics in its menu of sequencing offerings. In February, Oxford Nanopore announced a veterinary diagnostics collaboration with PathoSense designed to consolidate multiple traditional infectious disease tests into one affordable and accessible solution powered by Oxford Nanopore’s sequencing technology, including the MinION device’s scalable capabilities. ONT finished last year with a loss of £146.2 million ($189.7 million) on revenue of £183.1 million ($237.6 million). |
RocheRoche generated buzz at AGBT after introducing its SBX (Sequencing by Expansion) technology. SBX uses biochemical conversion to encode DNA into a surrogate molecule called an Xpandomer (50x longer than target DNA) and encodes the DNA sequence information in large, high signal-to-noise reporters. According to Roche, that enables highly accurate single-molecule nanopore sequencing using a Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS)-based sensor module. Roche Sequencing Solutions is within Roche’s Diagnostics Division, which last year generated CHF 14.324 billion ($15.954 billion) in revenue. |
Thermo Fisher ScientificThermo Fisher Scientific markets NGS technology under the Ion Torrent name. Last summer, Thermo Fisher began partnering with the NIH’s National Cancer Institute on the myeloMATCH (Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice) precision medicine umbrella trial. Using Thermo Fisher’s NGS technology to test patients’ bone marrow and blood for genetic biomarkers, clinical sites aim to match patients more quickly with the most suitable clinical trial assessing a treatment targeting specific mutations. Sequencing is within Thermo Fisher’s Life Sciences Solutions segment, which in 2024 generated $9.631 billion (22.5%) of the company’s $42.879 billion in revenue. |
Ultima GenomicsUltima Genomics, on February 24, commercially launched its UG 100 Solaris™ sequencing system, an upgrade of the UG 100™ sequencing platform launched last year that features new chemistry, software, and simplified workflows designed to significantly increase output and lower cost. Solaris offers a >50% increase in output to 10 to 12 billion reads per wafer, and a 20% price reduction to 24 cents per million reads—a price Ultima says enables the $80 genome. Privately held Ultima emerged from stealth in 2022, raising approximately $600 million. |
Providers of Sanger Sequencing Instrumentation |
Hitachi High-TechHitachi High-Tech joined Nabsys 2.0 on February 21 to reveal 15 awardees of their OhmX Rapid Application to Market Penetration User Partnership (RAMP UP) Grant Program. Winners are pursuing numerous applications of the OhmX Analyzer for structural variant analysis, including orthogonal confirmation of long-read sequencing calls. Hitachi markets the Compact CE Sequencer DS3000, designed to facilitate sequencing analysis and fragment analysis. For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, Hitachi High-Tech reported approximately ¥670.449 billion ($4.463 billion) in revenue. |
PromegaPrivately-held Promega markets the Spectrum Compact Capillary Electrophoresis (CE) system, a benchtop instrument supporting Sanger sequencing applications for verification of NGS base calls. It is also designed to confirm successful genome edits in transformed cultures and to screen secondary clones for successful editing events using CRISPR-Cas9 techniques. Spectrum Compact CE also supports next-generation 8-color STR kits and can also be used for DNA fragment analysis for forensic labs. |
Thermo Fisher ScientificThermo Fisher Scientific markets genetic analyzers and workflow tools for Sanger sequencing under the Applied Biosystems brand. Last September, Thermo Fisher introduced the Applied Biosystems InnoviGene™ Suite, an intuitive, browser-based software platform for automating and optimizing CE data analysis, enabling 21 CFR Part 11 compliance. Applied Biosystems’ SeqStudio Series systems, such as the SeqStudio Flex Series Genetic Analyzer, are designed to analyze nucleic acids using CE with Sanger sequencing or fragment analysis and enable applications ranging from simple targeted sequencing to identification of SARS variants of concern. |
Providers of Workflow Solutions |
Agilent TechnologiesPresident and CEO Padraig McDonnell isn’t quantifying Agilent’s genomics business, which his predecessor Mike McMullen pegged at $500 million in FY 2023. In FY 2024, McDonnell said, genomics “posted low single-digit growth” ahead of expectations. Simon May, senior VP and President of Agilent’s Life Sciences and Diagnostics Markets Group, cited the Magnis NGS Prep System (“continues to see fantastic traction”) and Avida DNA Reagent Kit (“very encouraged”). |
QIAGENGenomics England selected the QIAGEN Clinical Knowledge Base (and Revvity’s chemagic™ 360 automated nucleic extraction instrument) in January to support the Generation Study, which aims to sequence the genomes of 100,000 newborns to screen for >200 selected genetic conditions. QIAGEN said growth in universal consumables used on third-party NGS systems supported the 1% year-over-year increase in Q4 2024 sales for its Genomics/NGS business, to $66 million. Full-year genomics/NGS sales slid 2% to $234 million. |
RevvityRvvity agreed in January to combine its automated NGS workflow with Element Bioscience’s AVITI system to co-develop a comprehensive in vitro diagnostic (IVD) workflow solution for neonatal sequencing. As part of its newborn sequencing research workflow, Revvity markets and commercializes to its NGS customers Bionano Genomics’ VIA™ software. Revvity, formerly Perkin Elmer’s diagnostics and life sciences business, finished 2024 with a $12.686 million net loss on revenue that inched up 0.1% to $2.755 billion. |
