CORALVILLE, Iowa & INDIANAPOLIS– Leveraging the power of forward-thinking automation technologies to drive genomics research forward, Integrated DNA Technologies entered into an agreement with Beckman Coulter Life Sciences to distribute its Biomek NGeniuS Next Generation Sequencing Library Prep System, a purpose-built liquid handler for next generation sequencing (NGS) library preparation.
The distribution deal bolsters the partnership between IDT and Beckman Coulter Life Science and makes high-performance NGS solutions more accessible to fast-growing labs seeking to generate libraries more efficiently with out-of-the-box automation. It also broadens the suite of automation tools and solutions IDT is able to offer its customers.
As an authorized seller, IDT will for the first time be able to provide users with push-button automation to optimize their NGS workflows. The Biomek NGeniuS System will be equipped to support IDT’s xGen™ cfDNA & FFPE DNA Library Prep Kit so researchers can optimize library generation from degraded, low-input samples such as formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) samples.
The Biomek NGeniuS Next Generation Sequencing Library Prep System features an exclusive Biomek NGeniuS System Portal software that allows any batch size, from four to 24 samples, to be set up from anywhere and monitored remotely from a Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge-enabled computer. Hands-on time is further reduced by innovations such as an integrated thermal cycler and labware transport system, and a reagent input carousel that minimizes the manual transfer of reagents. The NGS workstation also eliminates loading errors by combining a sophisticated optical analytics technology—Dynamic DeckOptix system—to provide users real-time feedback on labware placement.
“For 35 years, IDT has set its sights on helping researchers uncover their next breakthrough,” said Rajan Kapadia, VP of Global Sales and Marketing at Integrated DNA Technologies. “With automation becoming an enabler for life science research, the addition of the Biomek NGeniuS System—with its highly unique technologies—complements IDT’s robust xGen portfolio of NGS solutions, and reinforces our commitment to supporting the researcher’s quest for consistency, reproducibility, labor cost reductions, and mitigation of sample cross contamination.”
IDT is one of the trusted reagent manufacturers tapped by Beckman Coulter Life Sciences to develop applications for the Biomek NGeniuS System liquid handler, which will be available to instrument users via a first-of-its-kind electronic application library. With the global NGS library preparation and target enrichment market projected to reach nearly $1.5 billion in 2022, continued demand for automated library generation is playing a critical role in expanding sample throughput within NGS labs. This agreement shows how life sciences companies are coming together to deliver solutions that help alleviate researchers’ pain points around the bottlenecks that can be associated with automation.
“Our mission at Beckman Coulter Life Sciences is to partner with the science community to be a trusted and valuable asset to help provide critical resources to accelerate answers,” said Calvin Cortes, the Biomek NGeniuS System Product Manager. “This partnership with IDT helps us further expand the reach of next generation sequencing and unleash its power in labs that may not otherwise have access. This solution can also create greater accuracy in results from precious samples, which can often be a challenge in manual workflows. With the ability to reduce processing time, we’re confident more labs will discover that the Biomek NGeniuS System allows the focus to be on the science, not the workflow, so they can drive their research goals even further.”
