NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Illumina today said that it has launched a partnership program aimed at developing automation methods for its TruSeq and Nextera Sample Preparation kits.
The initial partners in the program include Beckman Coulter Life Sciences, PerkinElmer, Eppendorf, Tecan, and Hamilton Robotics. Under the partnerships, sample prep kits sold by Illumina will be automated by the partners, who will develop, distribute, and install methods on the customers' instruments and provide technical support.
Illumina makes TruSeq Sample Prep and Exome Enrichment Kits for DNA, RNA, and small RNA sequencing applications. Its Nextera XT DNA sample preparation kit is used for preparing and sequencing small genomes, PCR amplicons, and plasmids.
Illumina said that it will assist the partners in developing, testing, and promoting the automated methods. It expects automated methods for the TruSeq RNA Sample Preparation kits to be available by the end of the second quarter of this year with additional methods for other TruSeq and Nextera kits to follow.
Financial and other terms of the partnerships were not disclosed.