Pacific Biosciences of California PACB, popularly known as PacBio,recently announced the PureTarget repeat expansion panel, a new approach that makes it possible to thoroughly examine 20 genes linked to severe neurological conditions, including difficult-to-sequence genes with tandem repeat expansions, is now possible.

In addition to cutting down on the amount of time required to find disease-causing variations and the methylation signatures that go along with them, the new long-read process can eliminate iterative analysis utilizing outdated technologies.

Price Performance

For the past six months, PACB’s shares have plunged 63.6% against the industry’s rise of 14%. The S&P 500 increased 13.9% in the same time frame.

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More on PureTarget Panel

HiFi sequencing is uniquely capable of comprehensively characterizing the germline and somatic variation of tandem repeats, which cause dozens of neurological diseases. The purpose of the PureTarget repeat expansion panel is to help customers comprehend the foundations of tandem repeats by focusing on repeat expansions.

The panel targets long-read sequencing of pure DNA using a unique methodology. PureTarget libraries provide a comprehensive picture of disease genes such as FMR1, which is likely to save the company’s customers from having to run a second experiment by retaining methylation signatures.

Targeted sequencing is a great way for academics and commercial labs to examine and evaluate the function of genes and gene variations at a reasonable cost. Several severe neurological conditions that affect both adults and children, such as ataxia, Huntington's disease, myotonic dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, frontotemporal dementia, and fragile X disease, are linked to the 20 genes that make up the PureTarget repeat expansion panel.

The recently released Nanobind PanDNA kit is used in the PureTarget Repeat Expansion Panel procedure, which guarantees reliable outcomes tailored for Revio and Sequel IIe customers. On the PacBio Revio sequencing system, customers can multiply up to 48 samples, whereas on the PacBio Sequel IIe sequencing system, they can multiply 24 samples.

PureTarget panel is expected to be available for shipment starting Mar 25, 2024. The company expects that this panel could improve PacBio's commercial possibility by allowing thousands of samples at the largest facilities in the world to be processed quickly and with a streamlined methodology.

Industry Prospects

Per a report by Grand View Research, the global long-read sequencing market size was valued at $455.1 million in 2022 and is expected to grow at 30.92% from 2023 to 2030.