While a lot more than “sequencing” has been the news from AGBT 2025, with this post I wanted to focus predominantly on some highlights from the “sequencing” category. Clearly, Roche’s SBX Nanopore Sequencing stole the show, though there were many other announcements and highlights that made the press and that are worth mentioning. Let us dive into some of these highlights.
Unveiling their news days before the start of AGBT Roche and Illumina made headlines with big announcements (Roche with SBX – sequencing by extension; Illumina with their entry into spatial technology).
Lots is Happening on the Sequencing Front
Illumina
Illumina – first-time Gold Sponsor – now pushes multi-omics. Jacob Thaysen (CEO, Illumina) shared Illumina’s vision in how the company will unlock a deeper understanding of biology, via multi-omics, to reveal the full picture of health and disease. With a huge splash, they announced their support of spatial genomics at this year’s AGBT 2025, and single cell and proteomics at ASHG 2024. What a milestone! Illumina is now the first company that will make all these modalities beyond the genome available. While already announced, not all products are on the market yet, but in various stages of commercialization:
- Illumina Single Cell Prep: On market
- Illumina 5-base solution: Early access now
- Illumina Protein Prep: Early access now
- Illumina Spatial Technology: Early access now – coming in 2026
- Illumina Connected Multiomics (ICM): Early access now
Roche
Supposedly, the best-attended Silver Workshop was Roche’s workshop with Mark Kokoris presenting – not surprising following their pre-conference announcement of unveiling of their proprietary sequencing by expansion (SBX) nanopore technology platform.
The technology is based on two acquisitions: Stratos Genomics in 2020, which provides the unique SBX chemistry, and Genia Technologies in 2014, a massively parallel DNA sequencing platform using nanopore technology. Based on the data, it is all about speed, with sample to VCF WGS in less than 7 hours.
This clearly rounds out the Roche portfolio, e.g., in diagnostics, as this sequencer is completed with sample preparation, NGS tests, and informatics capabilities. The system actually includes two instruments, one for the synthesis of the Xpandomeres, i.e., sample preparation, and one for the sequencing and compute components (see Figure 1). But there is still a long way to go considering they have to build a robust high-throughput platform, and this for clinical applications. The commercial launch is currently scheduled for 2026, while Illumina is already 20 years in the making.
Figure 1: Roche SBX Sequencing System.
Some SBX sequencing highlights include (see also the SBX preprint):
- Longer read lengths – “medium-read length”
- Duplex: 150-350bp
- Simplex: 50bp to 1000+bp
- Can reach up to ~52% full splice matching (FSM) by resolving longer isoforms (>=1350bp)
- Split SBX reads improve known and novel isoform detection and enhance transcriptome resolution
- Accuracy – duplex WGS
- Achieves Q39
- InDel: 99.56%
- SNV: 99.80%
- Throughput: 500M bases/sec
- Speed:
- Run Time: 4 hours
- VCF file in less than 7 hours
- Applications (currently research)
- WGS, WES, single cell sequencing
- Availability
- Early access in 2025
- Commercial launch in 2026
- Cost:
- Not available
- Will include the cost for consumables which will define its competitiveness
Ultima Genomics
Ultima was all about the $80 genome with the launch of UG 100 Solaris™, which includes new chemistry, software, and simplified workflows for its UG 100 sequencing platform, with expanded application support and integration with leading ‘omics’ technologies. The result is increased output by over 50% (10-12 billion reads per wafer) and lowered sequencing costs by a further 20% (to $0.24 per million reads, enabling the $80 genome). With Solaris Boost, their platform can create up to 100B reads per day. Their platform is designed for single-cell, proteomics, and large-scale omics applications, and as a consequence, a focus of their communication was about the company’s involvement in the large proteomics project with the UK Biobank, Regeneron, and Olink.
Lastly, Ultima is providing global access to high-quality, low-cost DNA sequencing on their UG 100™ sequencing platform through partnerships with multiple genomic services providers.
A nice comprehensive table, generated by Hanna Foster, see Figure 2, puts the Roche SBX technology (~medium-read length) next to existing long- and short-read sequencing technologies on the market.
Figure 2: Technological comparisons of the various sequencing technologies on the market (Image credit: Hanna Foster).
Spatial-Centric News
- 10x Genomics announced a series of new product innovations to solidify its position as the partner for high-performance single cell research at scale and revealed a new product roadmap for Visium and Xenium portfolios.
- Stellaromics just recently introduced their Spatial Pyxa Platform, a 3D, high-plex, confocal spatial system, which integrated sample preparation, automated imaging, and 3D data analysis all in one. To be released by the end of 2025/early 2026 – right now in early access stage.
- Silver sponsor Bruker unveiled their advancements in spatial biology – the company is now a strong player in the spatial platforms sector, especially after their Nanostring asset acquisition.
- Bruker Spatial Biology announced four innovations that underscore Bruker’s leading commitment to advancing spatial biology with pioneering, best-in-class platforms:
- the Whole Transcriptome Panel (WTX) on the subcellular resolution CosMx Spatial Molecular Imager (SMI) platform,
- the new PaintScape platform for direct visualization of the 3D genome,
- the new CellScape PowerOMX™ software engine, developed to optimize the performance of the new EpicIF technology on the CellScape spatial proteomics platform,
- a doubling of the GeoMx protein panel to an unprecedented 1,000 plex for the highest level of tissue multiomics
- Bruker Spatial Biology announced four innovations that underscore Bruker’s leading commitment to advancing spatial biology with pioneering, best-in-class platforms:
Other News Worth Mentioning
- Pixelgen Technologies Unveils Nanoscale Proximity Network Assay for Analyzing Protein Interactomics of Single Cells – Pixelgen launches novel technology for exploring the dynamic protein interactome at the single-cell level, building on its earlier technological innovations in DNA-based 3D proteomics. Pixelgen is a young spatial proteomics company (~3-4 years around). Their readout is NGS-based and not imaging-based.
- Illumina and Broad Clinical Labs usher in a new era of drug discovery with a collaboration to rapidly scale single-cell solutions.
- Volta Labs Unveils 2025 Application Roadmap for NGS Sample Prep.
- Scale Biosciences Launches Five Single Cell Profiling Products, Unlocking Single Cell RNA Studies at Any Scale
- Trump’s Early Policy Moves Create New Headaches for This Biotech Heavyweight: A WSJ article by David Wainer discusses how for Illumina, the policy shifts are compounding an already challenging growth picture, which sparked concerns over its ability to meet its 2025 revenue forecast of $4.28 to $4.4 billion.
