Roche's 454 Life Sciences and Fluidigm said this week that they will co-promote their respective amplicon sample-prep and sequencing platforms.
The partnership involves 454's GS FLX and GS Junior sequencers and Fluidigm's Access Array system, which enables users to generate 48 PCR amplicons for 48 samples simultaneously.
The companies said they will offer a "robust and streamlined workflow" that minimizes the number of manual steps required for targeted sequencing applications.
454 President and CEO Chris McLeod said in a statement that the Access Array and GS Junior systems are "extremely complementary," allowing large numbers of samples and amplicons to be analyzed "in an affordable workflow, without the need for complicated liquid handling."