Back to top

Image: Bigstock

PacBio's (PACB) Revio System to Boost Novogene's German Lab

Read MoreHide Full Article

Pacific Biosciences of California (PACB - Free Report) , popularly known as PacBio, recently announced that Novogene, a Chinese company providing genomics services and solutions, is set to use PacBio’s Revio long-read sequencing system to expand the capabilities of its new lab in Munich, Germany.

Working with a wide spectrum of top academic institutes and clinical and commercial businesses, Novogene is a leading provider of genetic services and bioinformatics expertise. Revio's enhanced accuracy and throughput are intended to help Novogene's clients expand in-depth genomic research in areas, such as rare illnesses, cancer, microorganisms and agriculture in an economical manner.

More on the Collaboration

Introducing Revio to the German labs of Novogene is likely to create new opportunities for its customers to advance their groundbreaking research. Novogene expects particularly high demand for Revio from customers in the rare disease and cancer spaces due to the sequencer’s ability to uncover complex repetitive regions, structural variants and novel isoforms that are typically missed by short-read and exome methods.

The high fidelity of the Revio, combined with PacBio’s various kits and data analysis capabilities, makes it an ideal solution to provide Novogene customers with long-read data in an economical way. The company plans to integrate even more automation into Revio’s workflows to further increase efficiency and make long-reads accessible to a wider range of users.

Revio's inclusion is likely to enhance Novogene's current sequencing offering, providing clients with solutions when other technologies have failed to do so because of depth or accuracy constraints. As Revio makes it possible to identify species and assemble entire genomes of infrequently studied species from scratch, Novogene expects that customers in the microbial and agrigenomics sectors would place a high value on it in addition to uncommon illness and cancer research.

More on PacBio’s Sequencing Technologies

PacBio is a life science technology company that designs, develops and manufactures advanced sequencing solutions that enable scientists and clinical researchers to improve their understanding of the genome and resolve genetically complex problems. The company’s products and technology under development stem from two highly differentiated core technologies, which include HiFi long-read sequencing technology and Sequencing by Binding(SBB) short-read sequencing technology.

PacBio has developed HiFi long-read sequencing based on SMRT technology, which accurately detects the nucleotide sequence and epigenetic status of individual DNA molecules. The company is also expanding its genomic solutions with its short-read SBB chemistry, which offers sensitive sequencing for short-read applications. Upon the launch of the SBB platform, PACB believes that it will be the only company offering both native long-read and native short-read technologies into the market.

In March, PacBio announced the PureTarget repeat expansion panel, a new solution designed to enable the comprehensive analysis of 20 genes associated with severe neurological disorders. In February, the company announced two new high throughput library preparation kits and workflows optimized for its Revio sequencing system —the HiFi Prep Kit 96 and the HiFi Plex Prep Kit 96. In January, PacBio announced PanDNA, a versatile Nanobind DNA extraction kit designed to efficiently extract high-quality, high molecular weight DNA across a wide range of sample types, including cells, bacteria, blood, tissue, plant nuclei and insects.

Industry Prospects

Per a report by Grand View Research, the global long-read sequencing market size was valued at $455.1 million in 2022 and is expected to witness a growth rate of 30.92% from 2023 to 2030.

The major factors driving the market growth include the rising prevalence of genetic diseases, such as cancers, as well as chromosomal disorders, the increasing popularity of personalized medicine, and rising technological advancements resulting in the emergence of newer technologies, such as third-generation sequencing.

Notable Developments

In March 2024, PacBio announced the PureTarget repeat expansion panel, a new approach that makes it possible to thoroughly examine 20 genes linked to severe neurological conditions, including difficult-to-sequence genes with tandem repeat expansions, is now possible.

In January 2024, PACB announced PanDNA, a versatile Nanobind DNA extraction kit. With the addition of this new offering, the range of sample types appropriate for long-read sequencing is now greater and includes bacteria, cells, tissue, blood, plant nuclei and insects.

Price Performance

PACB’s shares have plunged 81.2% year to date against the industry’s growth of 6%. The S&P 500 increased 16.9% in the same time frame.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

PACB carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present.

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space that have announced quarterly results are Boston Scientific (BSX - Free Report) , Hologic (HOLX - Free Report) and Universal Health Services (UHS - Free Report) .

Boston Scientific reported first-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings per share of 56 cents, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 9.8%. Revenues of $3.86 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.9%. It currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Boston Scientific has a long-term estimated growth rate of 12.5%. BSX’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 7.5%.

Hologic, carrying a Zacks Rank of 2 at present, has an estimated long-term growth rate of 7.4%. Its earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 4.94%.

Hologic’s shares have risen 0.3% year to date compared with the industry’s 4.7% growth.

Universal Health Services has an Earnings ESP of +2.91% and a Zacks Rank of 2 at present. UHS has an estimated earnings growth rate of 30.5% for 2024.

UHS’ earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 8.12%.

Published in