NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Privately held Chinese diagnostics services firm iGenomics has purchased 17 of Life Technologies' Ion Proton next-generation sequencing systems and has agreed to add 15 more machines by the end of the year, Life Tech said today.
Guangzhou, China-based iGenomics will initially use the sequencers for research in aneuploidy screening, but plans to expand into other applications.
"We see a huge growth opportunity in sequencing and believe that Ion Torrent provides the ideal technology to help us quickly expand and compete in this market today and in the future," iGenomics CEO Shengyu Huang said in a statement.
Over the last six months, iGenomics has performed more than 200 runs on the Proton with a protocol that delivers over 80 million reads per run on the PI chip and up to six runs in one day.
The company also signed a licensing and supply agreement with Life Tech. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.