Might Illumina Shave NovaSeq Run Times?
I've had some people asking, either privately or via Twitter, what might come from Illumina next week at JP Morgan (8:30 am PST on Monday). I have another post in the works (ideally going out not long after this one) on one aspect of their business, but then I thought of something else. Something in the great tradition of proposing a plan while being quite unaware of all the critical details that the plan relies on!Read more » (Source: Omics! Omics!)
Source: Omics! Omics! - January 8, 2020 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Keith Robison Source Type: blogs
A Le Mans for Clinical Genomics?
If you haven't seenFord v Ferrari (orLe Mans'66in parts of Europe), I strongly suggest you do so if it is still in a local theater. I'm neither a gearhead nor a fan of watching automobile races, but while the movie is centered on an attempt to win the 1966 24 Hours at Le Mans, there is so much more going on. Designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) must not only project manage a difficult task, but also deal with unreliable allies (as one wag put it, the biggest villain in the title isn't Ferrari) and a cantankerous star driver named Ken Miles (Christian Bale). One touching aspect of the movie is the...
Source: Omics! Omics! - January 4, 2020 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Keith Robison Source Type: blogs
Illumina & PacBio Throw In The Towel
I had planned to post this morning a"preview of 2020" piece I had drafted in my head on the ski slopes the previous two days, but never got around to actually committing it to bits and bytes. Today's announcementthat the Pacific Biosciences acquisition from Illumina is officially dead means the first item of that piece is mostly going uncaptured.Read more » (Source: Omics! Omics!)
Source: Omics! Omics! - January 1, 2020 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Keith Robison Source Type: blogs
Long Overdue and Overly Short Notes on Clive's NCM 2019 Talk
A theme of the 2019 Nanopore Community Meeting in New York was the long and short of nanopore sequencing. While the public sparring with Illumina/PacBio over the definitions of sequencing types wasn't explicitly discussed, certainly ONT wants to make sure that people understand they don't intend to ignore applications that are naturally short reads. I've been slowly trying to get this summary to gel for awhile, with the usual distractions this time of year of some trips, planning for holidays and a bout with a virus. Plus general procrastination. I'm just going to cover Clive's talk; there wer...
Source: Omics! Omics! - December 25, 2019 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Keith Robison Source Type: blogs
Merger Questions to Mull Over Your Cider
With thefull FTC complaint against the Illumina-PacBio merger now out in the open but the holiday break bearing down like a reindeer on steroids, I want to leave you with a few questions to ponder over your wassail. Because what holiday gathering is not enlightened by discussion on the Herfindahl-Hirschmann Index (HHI)?Read more » (Source: Omics! Omics!)
Source: Omics! Omics! - December 22, 2019 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Keith Robison Source Type: blogs
FTC Slams Illumina-PacBio Merger, but Illumina Not Quitting Yet
Tonight I was intending to finally get out my summary of technical notes from the Oxford Nanopore Community Meeting, but yesterday the U.S. Federal Trade Commission issued a press release that they believe the proposed acquisition of Pacific Biosciences by Illumina would be grossly anticompetitive and cannot be approved in any form. A more detailed report is promised but hasn't surfaced yet. Curiously, not only did this ultimately move PacBio's stock very little, but today Illumina and Pacific Biosciences filed matchingSEC documents that Illumina will continue to infuse cash into PacBio through March of next ...
Source: Omics! Omics! - December 17, 2019 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Keith Robison Source Type: blogs
Is ONT Really Going to Twist the Watch Stem Backwards?
I was in New York last week for the Nanopore Community Meeting. I'll save some technical updates for tomorrow, for I wanted to focus today on a huge inflection point that Oxford Nanopore announced that they will really will punch through next year. I'm going to do that with an extended comparison to Robert Bloch's wonderful short storyThat Hellbound Train. I won't spoil that story, but if you want to first go find a copy to read (there is apparently now a graphic novel version) or spend a half hour ona decent narration of it, please do. It's especially a joy if you're steeped in the lore ...
Source: Omics! Omics! - December 9, 2019 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Keith Robison Source Type: blogs
Should Patent Pool Save the ILMN-PACB Merger? ONT Doesn't Think So
Last week theUK ’s CMApublisheda proposal submitted by Illumina and PacBioto save their merger. This was thenpublished in a revised, seemingly more generous form on Wednesday. Most strikingly, the proposal tackles head-on an elephant long in the room: is the CMA playing hardball because the biggest competitor in this space is not named Oslo Nanopore Technologies.Read more » (Source: Omics! Omics!)
Source: Omics! Omics! - November 20, 2019 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Keith Robison Source Type: blogs
Genapsys Launches
Today Genapsys launches their sequencer into the U.S. market, with worldwide launch next year. They also received a new round ($90M) of financing from a major firm, Foresite Capital. In addition to the Press Release and Media Kit, Genapsys' PR team, provided me with answers to a set of questions I provided. As a reminder, I previously covered theirpre-printpushed out to BioRxiv six months ago.Read more » (Source: Omics! Omics!)
Source: Omics! Omics! - November 19, 2019 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Keith Robison Source Type: blogs
CMA Drops the (Preliminary) Hammer on ILMN-PacBio
Today the United Kingdom's Competition and Merger Authority (CMA) issuedtheir preliminary report on the proposed acquisition of Pacific Biosciences by Illumina. The report has no dry British phrasing: they clearly state that the merger is anticompetitive and that theonly legal remedy is to block the transaction. Interestingly, today was also the scheduled Illumina Q3 earnings call, but the subject wasn't even broached there.Read more » (Source: Omics! Omics!)
Source: Omics! Omics! - October 23, 2019 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Keith Robison Source Type: blogs
QIAGEN Quashes GeneReader
Two weeks ago QIAGEN announced they will discontinue development of their GeneReader short read instrument and move their portfolio of gene panel tests over to the Illumina MiSeq and NextSeq. Existing instrument owners will continue to be supported for an indefinite period. Thus ends QIAGEN's effort to build a fully vertically integrated sample-to-answer diagnostic sequencing system,just short of 4 years from the system's launch. What can be learned from this and how does this reshape the sequencing market?Read more » (Source: Omics! Omics!)
Source: Omics! Omics! - October 20, 2019 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Keith Robison Source Type: blogs
Where U.K.'s CMA Missed the Plot
I've written far more than I expected to on the PacBio merger, with it dominating my output here this summer save that recent dip in the CCS boomerangs. We still haven't heard from the U.S. FTC, which is the big hammer that could drop and the stock is still selling at a substantial discount to the price offered by Illumina. While I've hinted at it, I've never quite detailed my major objection to the form of the UK CMA's analysis of the proposed acquisition. I've missed the opportunity to lay that out during the period of public comment for the next round of the CMA. Still, worth it to wr...
Source: Omics! Omics! - September 25, 2019 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Keith Robison Source Type: blogs
Illumina Throws PacBio An Extension and a Lifeline
Interesting news today on the PacBio front:as reported by GenomeWeb, Illumina announced that their walkaway date for the acquisition has been extended to March 31 of next year and that Illumina will be pumping significant cash into PacBio until either the merger occurs or is terminated. In addition to publicly reinforcing Illumina's determination to get the deal done, the terms of the arrangement have interesting consequences should the deal fall throughRead more » (Source: Omics! Omics!)
Source: Omics! Omics! - September 25, 2019 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Keith Robison Source Type: blogs
Amazon Needs Another Training Track
I spent a day recently taking Amazon's"AWS Technical Essentials" course. I had originally opted not to go, but a summons went out that we had already paid for seats and that everyone using AWS should really go. I've been in far worse courses and certainly had no complaints with our instructor, a former mechanical engineer who knew his stuff and was never in salesman mode. Indeed, many of the tips I extracted had to do with how to save money. No, the problem is that the course is designed for a very, very different use case than anyone in my shoes is interested in. It's a use case that I...
Source: Omics! Omics! - September 18, 2019 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Keith Robison Source Type: blogs
Mirror, Mirror Have You Leads, On My Strange HiFi Reads?
A core purpose of this space is to explore the current state of genomics technology. Much of the time this is via distilling news reports, press releases and interviews with persons in the field. But even more fun is to dive into actual data. Such data is often accessed via the generosity of researchers who deposit open access datasets. But it is also true that part of my p rofessional responsibilities is to determine when new technologies and methods have applications at my day job, so I'm also charged in the day job with contemplating experiments to plumb sequencing systems. Only by doing so can we ensure...
Source: Omics! Omics! - August 22, 2019 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Keith Robison Source Type: blogs
