Roche’s new gene sequencer on the market: where do current players stand?

Roche has recently launched its new gene sequencer, the AXELIOS 1, aiming to challenge Illumina's long-standing dominance in the market. The Swiss pharma giant's sequencer, based on its SBX technology, offers quick and accurate single-molecule analysis, overcoming spatial limitations of standard nanopore sequencing. This is achieved by converting DNA into larger, synthetic surrogate polymers called Xpandomers, which are more efficiently read by a nanopore.

Roche's approach eliminates noisy signals typically created during sequencing of unmodified DNA. The company's CEO, Matt Sause, believes the AXELIOS 1 will be a "disruptive sequencing solution," enabling the sequencing community to develop applications previously deemed infeasible due to its high cost efficiency.

Despite Roche's ambitious plans, Illumina's dominance in the market, with a 70% market share, makes it challenging for the new entrant to make a significant impact. Illumina's NovaSeq X Plus, for example, can sequence up to 20,000 genomes per year with a cost of $1,250,000, while its MiSeq i100 benchtop sequencer is much more affordable at $49,000.

Illumina's short-read Sequencing by Synthesis (SBS) technology involves using fluorescent labels to recognize single bases and determine their precise order, which is different from Roche's approach of using Xpandomers to bypass noisy signals in nanopore sequencing.

However, Roche's entry into the market is not without its potential benefits. The sequencer's lower price point of $750,000 compared to Illumina's NovaSeq X series may allow Roche to carve out a significant market share, generating over 1 billion Swiss francs ($1.1 billion) in revenue in the long run.