Swiss pharmaceutical and diagnostics company Roche officially introduced its highly anticipated Axelios gene sequencing platform on Monday, making a direct move to challenge the market dominance of U.S.-based Illumina in the next-generation sequencing industry.
The rollout is currently limited to academic and research-oriented institutions. It marks Roche’s return to the sequencing arena more than ten years after the company’s unsuccessful hostile takeover bid for Illumina, which was valued at $6.8 billion at the time.
The Axelios system is built to quickly read and interpret DNA at a large scale, with potential uses spanning disease research and pharmaceutical development.
Industry analysts expect Roche’s push into the market to be a slow and steady climb rather than an immediate shake-up of a sector currently worth approximately $7.3 billion. Illumina continues to hold a commanding position, with estimates suggesting it controls roughly 70% of the next-generation sequencing systems market.
Roche has set a goal of deploying around 100 machines during the platform’s first year on the market. The company views this as a stepping stone toward building what it describes as a future “blockbuster” product line capable of generating more than 1 billion Swiss francs — equivalent to about $1.1 billion — in yearly revenue over the long haul.
To support the platform’s capabilities and encourage adoption, Roche has entered into partnerships with 10x Genomics and Google DeepVariant for data analysis purposes. Early validation of the platform has also come from Broad Clinical Labs and the Hartwig Medical Foundation.
The company confirmed that commercial shipments have already begun and that pre-orders have been secured. The initial launch focuses on the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and France, with plans to rapidly expand into additional markets.
