Biopharma

Over the last 20 years, next-generation sequencing (NGS) has become an indispensable tool for biopharma companies, contract research organisations (CROs) and contract development and manufacturing organisations (CDMOs), across the full drug development pathway, to support different applications.​

However, there is a growing recognition that traditional "short-read" sequencing methods, which require amplification and fragmentation of DNA or RNA molecules, erase critically important information.

Nanopore sequencing from Oxford Nanopore Technologies overcomes such limitations and offers an innovative approach: direct sequencing of DNA or RNA fragments any length quickly and efficiently. This approach can be utilised across the whole drug discovery value chain, and the ultra-rich genetic data generated provides an important tool in the continuing drive to boost data-driven decision making, and in turn, improve the probability of success (PoS) of drug discovery and development programs.

Nanopore sequencing delivers:

• Ultra-rich data — for comprehensive insights
• Any read length — from short to ultra-long (>4 Mb)
• PCR free — no amplification bias
• Built-in methylation detection — no additional bisulfite sequencing runs required
• Real-time analysis — immediate access to actionable results

Oxford Nanopore Technologies is already well established in many areas of life science research with >8,000 users worldwide across 120 countries. These users have published >11,000 publications in human genetics, cancer, plant, animal, and microbial biology.

Such research has served as a foundation for the development of solutions in many industries, including biopharma, which is a particularly active area of development in 2024.

The schematic below shows the current focus areas: