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PacBio's (PACB) Latest Offering to Enhance Genome Sequencing

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Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (PACB - Free Report) , popularly known as PacBio, recently announced the availability of an initial portfolio of off-the-shelf long-read gene panels — Twist Alliance panels — in collaboration with Twist Bioscience Corporation. These fixed panels have been designed to capture target regions in a cost-effective and high throughput manner. Customers will also have the ability to develop a fully customizable and scalable panel of their design for sequencing with PacBio HiFi reads.

PacBio and Twist Bioscience have collaborated with researchers of renowned institutions to develop two Alliance panels. One panel includes coverage of nearly 400 challenging medically relevant genes, while the other was designed to capture 50 pharmacogenomic genes.

Apart from new capabilities provided by the long-read panels, PacBio is also collaborating with Twist Bioscience to demonstrate the high level of accuracy that can be achieved using sequencing by binding (SBB) chemistry.

This latest availability is expected to significantly expand PacBio’s market share for sequencing, thus strengthening its global foothold.

Significance of the Availability

Per the press release, many of the challenging genes are in the dark regions of the human genome (the complete set of genes or genetic material present in a cell or organism), which are difficult to sequence or accurately map using standard short-read sequencing technologies. PacBio and Twist Bioscience developed the dark gene panel with researchers to interrogate and detect around 400 hard-to-sequence genes of medical significance which are associated with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular disease.

PacBio believes that SBB’s accuracy, when applied to whole-exome sequencing, can potentially provide a complete coverage of both uncomplicated and traditionally difficult-to-sequence genes. This, in turn, could streamline workflows by reducing the necessity for orthogonal assays.

Per PacBio’s management, the partnership with Twist Bioscience enabled it to develop off-the-shelf products that are expected to meet its customers’ needs for a way to focus their long-read experiments and maximize throughput.

Twist Bioscience’s management feels that the panels developed in association with PacBio will likely enable customers to sequence regions of the genome that can aid researchers in studying the role of genetics in drug response. This is expected to enable them to uncover regions that are difficult to read, such as dark genes and genes associated with neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases.

Industry Prospects

Per a report by Mynewsdesk, the global genome sequencing market is projected to reach $46.43 billion in 2028 from $13.58 billion in 2021 at a CAGR of 19.2%. Factors like the rising prevalence of genetic disorders, continued mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the need for disease management are expected to drive the market.

Given the market potential, the latest launch is expected to significantly strengthen PacBio’s global business.

Recent Developments

PacBio, this month, announced the creation of the Consortium for Long Read Sequencing, which aims to accelerate the utility of long-read human genome datasets.

Last month, PacBio announced the availability of a new computational analysis method — Tandem Repeat Genotyping Tool — for profiling a huge volume of tandem repeats across the human genome using its long-read HiFi sequencing data.

Comparison With Peers

PacBio’s peer in the sequencing space, Illumina, Inc. (ILMN - Free Report) , announced a partnership with genomics company GenoScreen this month. The tie-up is aimed at accelerating the progress to end tuberculosis (TB) worldwide by expanding capabilities for countries most impacted by TB to more effectively detect and combat multidrug-resistant TB.

The same month, ILMN announced a strategic research collaboration with AstraZeneca. Through this partnership, Illumina and AstraZeneca aim to accelerate drug target discovery by combining their strengths in artificial intelligence-based genome interpretation and genomic analysis techniques along with industry expertise.

Another renowned name in the sequencing space and PacBio’s peer is Qiagen N.V. (QGEN - Free Report) . This month, QGEN announced the certification of its leading in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) kit and its fully automated NeuMoDx platforms under the European Union’s new In-Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation (IVDR), replacing the previous IVDD rules since May. The ipsogen JAK2 RGQ PCR (polymerase chain reaction) Kit used for myeloproliferative neoplasms (a certain type of blood cancer) is now QIAGEN’s first IVD kit with IVDR CE-marking under Class C.

Last month, QIAGEN announced new additions to its comprehensive NeuMoDx assay menu for organ transplant-associated viruses. The new assays for the identification and quantification of the Epstein-Barr virus and the human herpesvirus 6 have received CE-IVD certification for the European Union and other countries that accept this marking.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (TMO - Free Report) is another renowned peer of PacBio in the niche space. This month, TMO unveiled the Gibco CTS DynaCellect Magnetic Separation System to help cell therapy developers easily move from process and clinical development to commercial manufacturing.

The same month, Thermo Fisher announced the launch of the TaqPath Enteric Bacterial Select Panel, a CE-IVD marked panel designed to detect common gastrointestinal bacteria and help clinicians identify the root cause of an infection and administer the most appropriate treatment to their patients more quickly. The panel was validated and registered under IVDD in May 2022.

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