Roche and PSS Sign Agreement to Develop a Fully Automated Workflow Solution for Next-generation Sequencing Platforms

Roche and PSS Sign Agreement to Develop a Fully Automated Workflow Solution for Next-generation Sequencing Platforms PR Newswire PENZBERG, Germany and MATSUDO, Japan, December 21, 2012 PENZBERG, Germany and MATSUDO, Japan, December 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Roche and Precision System Science, Co., Ltd (PSS) today announced the signing of an exclusive agreement to develop and manufacture a fully automated emulsion PCR instrument for Roche's portfolio of next-generation sequencing platforms. It is intended to support Roche's GS Junior and GS FLX+ systems as well as the sequencing platforms that Roche is currently developing. Until now, upfront preparation of genomic samples has been a time-consuming and complicated manual process within the sequencing workflow. The new instrument will be designed to streamline the sample preparation workflow by automating the entire emulsion PCR process thereby reducing the total hands-on time from several hours to a few minutes. "This partnership aims to address one of the key needs of sequencing customers," said Dan Zabrowski, Head of Roche Applied Science. "The automated solution will not only improve the efficiency of laboratory workflows, but also increase the reproducibility of results by eliminating manual workload.