ESTABLISHES A SINGULAR, LARGE-SCALE HIFI LONG READ SEQUENCING SERVICE FOR THE BIOPHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., June 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Discovery Life Sciences™ (Discovery), the biospecimen and biomarker specialists™, is now one of the largest PacBio HiFi sequencing service providers in the world. To meet the biopharmaceutical industry's rising demand of scaled, affordable solutions, HudsonAlpha Discovery^®, the company's sequencing and bioinformatics division, has established a high-throughput long-read sequencing lab equipped with one of the world's largest fleets of PacBio Sequel IIe instruments, automated liquid handling robotics, and optimized workflows to create a unique offering – quick and affordable delivery of highly accurate HiFi sequencing data to customers around the world. 

HiFi long-read sequencing improves variant detection, more comprehensively maps difficult genomic regions, identifies unique transcript isoforms, uncovers native epigenetic (5mC) information, and elucidates complex potential disease-causing elements such as repeat expansions and structural variants that short read technologies are less likely to detect. These advantages are driving increased adoption of PacBio's HiFi long-read sequencing technology, especially in the field of oncology research. Discovery's PacBio HiFi sequencing services provide a comprehensive view of genomes, transcriptomes, and epigenomes to inform novel biological insights that may ultimately help advance precision medicine programs.

Discovery has processed thousands of samples using PacBio's Sequel IIe technology on research projects spanning disease characterization, RNA isoform analysis, trinucleotide repeat analysis, and population genomics. Discovery supports the full suite of PacBio sequencing applications, including whole genome sequencing (WGS), targeted sequencing, complex variant analysis, RNA sequencing, amplicon sequencing, metagenomics, and epigenetic studies.

"PacBio's Sequel IIe instrument is the most cutting-edge sequencing technology for generating highly accurate long reads," said Tom Halsey, PhD, Discovery's Executive Vice President, Genomics. "We've expanded adoption of their technology to become one of the largest PacBio service providers and optimized its application for the biopharmaceutical industry to support fast and affordable long-read sequencing projects of any size - including population-scale studies."

"PacBio is excited to see Discovery's unique and expansive offerings built on HiFi long-read sequencing technology flourish in their genomic services lab," said Lara Toerien, Vice President and General Manager, Americas at PacBio. "Their service optimizations, integrated biospecimen solutions, and nucleic acid isolation services create a truly customer-centric service capability that we believe will help meet the growing demand for our HiFi sequencing data and accelerate new discoveries."

Discovery Life Sciences is the company of Biospecimen and Biomarker Specialists, combining the world's largest commercial biospecimen inventory and procurement network with preeminent multi-omic biomarker service laboratories to accelerate new therapies supported by biomarker and companion diagnostic programs for cancer, infectious disease, and other rare and complex conditions.  We are a leading provider of highly characterized human cellular starting materials and expert multi-omic analytical services to advance cell and gene therapy research, development, and manufacturing programs.

HudsonAlpha Discovery® is Discovery's sequencing and bioinformatics division ? a globally recognized service laboratory that leverages the most current genomic research technologies to comprehensively support discovery, translational, and clinical research.

Driven by leading scientific expertise and innovative use of current technologies, the Discovery team engages and consults with customers to overcome obstacles more rapidly and obtain results to make critical research and development decisions at market-leading speed.  We are Science at your Service™!  For more information, visit dls.com.

This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements relating to future availability, uses, accuracy, advantages, quality or performance of, or benefits or expected benefits of using, PacBio products or technologies, including in connection with the anticipated benefits of Discovery's optimized workflows; the potential increased adoption of PacBio HiFi long-read sequencing technology, especially in the field of oncology research; the potential growing demand for HiFi sequencing data and belief it could accelerate new discoveries; and other future events. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and any such forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the following cautionary statements. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are based on current expectations and involve a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Readers are strongly encouraged to read the full cautionary statements contained in PacBio's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risks set forth in PacBio's Forms 8-K, 10-K, and 10-Q. PacBio disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.

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SOURCE Discovery Life Sciences