PacBio's (PACB) Latest Offering to Enhance Disease Discoveries
Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. PACB, popularly known as PacBio, recently announced the availability of its Multiplexed Arrays Sequencing (MAS-Seq) kit for enabling cost-effective long-read single-cell RNA sequencing. The company launched the product in partnership with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and 10x Genomics, Inc. TXG — a biotechnology company that designs and manufactures gene sequencing technology.
The MAS-Seq kit is likely to help generate insights on how single-cell research can power new disease discoveries and the identification of therapeutic targets across many categories.
The MAS-Seq kit is the first product under a compatible partner program between PacBio and 10x Genomics. TXG is currently working on building the most comprehensive single-cell portfolio for researchers worldwide by combining PacBio’s MAS-Seq kit and its industry-leading Chromium assays.
PacBio believes that the first-of-its-kind MAS-Seq kit will fuel discoveries of new biomarkers that are important in both disease research and cellular function. The greater insights will help to unlock new biological insights and open up new application areas. The company believes that MAS-Seq is going to help single-cell researchers to better identify and characterize novel isoforms, novel driver mutations, and cancer fusion genes, which are particularly relevant in the fields of cancer research and neurodegenerative diseases.
Industry Prospects
Per a report by Facts & Factors, the global genome sequencing market is expected to reach $95 billion by 2026 from $27 billion by 2020 at a CAGR of 20%. 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
Earlier this month, PacBio launched 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.
The availability of the MAS-Seq kit and Twist Alliance panels are expected to significantly expand PacBio’smarket share for sequencing, thus strengthening its global foothold.
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
A renowned name in the sequencing space and PacBio’s peer is Qiagen N.V. QGEN. 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 is another renowned peer of PacBioin 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 enable clinicians to identify the root cause of an infection and administer the most appropriate treatment more quickly. The panel was validated and registered under IVDD in May 2022.
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