Illumina, Inc. has announced it is building partnerships to enable long read applications. In support of the partnership ecosystem, Illumina announced the signing of a co-marketing agreement to promote 10x Genomics Linked-Read sequencing products and Illumina sequencing systems.

Illumina is building long read application partnerships that will enable customers to more effectively complete projects that require phasing, structural variant analysis, de novo genome assembly and the remapping of difficult regions of the genome by partnering with select companies.

This co-marketing agreement with 10x Genomics, like the one announced in January with NRGene, provides customers with options for applications that benefit from longer read information. Illumina expects to announce more ecosystem partnerships in 2016.

10x's microfluidics-based molecular barcoding long read solutions, built on the GemCode^TM technology, give researchers access to powerful sequencing applications from their Illumina sequencers. The companies will co-market the 10x GemCode technology and Illumina sequencing solutions to their respective customers.

"We are excited to establish this ecosystem and to have 10x Genomics as a partner. The GemCode technology provides HiSeq X^®, HiSeq^®, NextSeq^® and MiSeq^® sequencing users a plug-and-play upgrade to their existing systems, giving them access to a broad range of critical information, and at a much lower cost and a higher quality than other long-read sequencing systems on the market," said Christian Henry, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. "Our customers will benefit from the new possibilities enabled by our combined technologies."

"Illumina is the market leader in sequencing, providing high-throughput, high accuracy, and low-cost sequencing solutions," said Dr. Serge Saxonov, Chief Executive Officer for 10x Genomics. "Pairing the power of Linked-Reads with the power of Illumina sequencing will redefine the way we look at and understand genetic information."