Marco Island, FL February 25, 2015 – Today, at AGBT, 10X Genomics launched the GemCode platform. Used in combination with existing NGS instruments, this technology may enable scientists to understand “inaccessible”, critical genomic information using a combination of microfluidics, chemistry and bioinformatics.

Who is 10x Genomics?

10X Genomics is a 3-year old startup (founded in 2012) based in Pleasanton, CA. The company has an estimated ~60 employees (~50 listed on Linkedin as of today), and appears to be recruiting aggressively (16 open positions). The company boasts an impressive team of former QuantaLife and Ion Torrent employees.In January 2015, 10X genomics exited stealth mode at the JP Morgan conference by announcing it closed its $55.5M Series B round led by Foresite Capital Management (for a total of $80M in funding).Interestingly, 10X Genomics was among the top 5 companies our survey respondents identified as likely to make a splash at AGBT 2015. And they did!

What did they announce?

10X Genomics launched the GemCode platform that can generate a “powerful new data type: linked reads”. This instrument splits DNA in as many as >100,000 picoliter droplets that contain DNA fragments (of size dictated by the customer’s extraction method of choice) that can be barcoded.Rob Tarbox, VP of marketing at 10X Genomics, did a demo of the instrument for us. The system can process up to 8 samples in ~5 minutes, all of which occurs on a chip slightly larger than a credit card. Barcodes attached within “gems” (i.e., barcoded partitions) are used to link together 10’s to 100’s of short sequencing reads originating from the same long molecule of genomic DNA. Each partition contains ~300 genome equivalents or about 0.3% of the genome. Linked reads generated from ~1 ng (!!) of DNA represent 10’s of millions of single molecules of DNA, each spanning 10-100 kb+, and 10X genomics has not yet found the upper limit of the length of the input DNA molecules. This performance is made possible by the use of a massive amount of both partitions and barcodes. For example the vial containing the gel beads contains 750,000 individual 14-bp barcodes.In some sense, many have mentioned that the technology is similar to Moleculo. However, Tarbox clarified that the two approaches are actually quite different:

• First, 10X Genomics does not rely on long-range PCR. This has 2 advantages: the length of the molecule can be much greater than 8 kb (a practical limitation of long-range PCR), and second, amplification bias is not an issue
• In addition, because 10X Genomics is not running synthetic long reads, this approach is much more economical with sequencing requirements
• The technology is significantly more scalable (3 logs!), and requires 500x less input DNA as well.

Interestingly, the technology is compatible with all hybrid capture technologies, which allows for long range information from standard exome capture sets.These benefits come at a price of $500 per sample. The instrument will retail at ~$75,000 (of note, a log cheaper than a PacBio RS II), and will be an extension of Illumina sequencers (to date tested on MiSeq, NextSeq and HiSeq) to enable linked read sequencing on these short read platforms. Shipment will commence in Q2.10X has been working with a number of early access customers, including Steve McCarroll at Harvard. Feedback to date has been extremely positive.

Why does it matter?

10x Genomics is yet another company that demonstrates that a number of players can successfully participate in (and benefit from) the attractive growth in the ~$2B NGS market without offering an actual sequencer.The availability of long read platforms is often cited as a key unmet need by NGS users. Long reads enable users to better understand structural variations as well as haplotype identification / phasing. As a result, we expect this technology to be widely adopted by the community for a variety of applications, from standard whole genome sequencing (WGS) to oncology, where significant DNA rearrangements occur.This announcement will put some pressure on other long technologies (e.g., PacBio, Oxford nanopore, Genia). It may result in expanding Illumina’s dominance in this market, as it enables short read technologies to offer the benefits of long read platforms. In addition, it may put some pressure on Ion Torrent, as one of the company’s advantage was AmpliSeq’s low sample requirements (10 ng).“This could be a game changer” – AGBT attendee

Author: Stephane Budel, Partner at DeciBio, LLCConnect with Stephane Budel on Google+https://plus.google.com/+StephaneBudelDisclaimer: Companies listed above may be DeciBio clients and/or customers