Thoughts On Ultima Genomics...
Executive Summary: Ultima’s play is about being cheap for high throughput users. I’m not sure most NovaSeq users have the required throughput. I also think Illumina can (and will) respond with lower pricing if necessary. There are also data quality concerns. PPMSeq however seems like an interesting approach, and I look forward to hearing more on this.
Let’s try and figure out some things about Ultima genomics. For those in the genomics industry who have been spending the month in mediative isolation: Ultima genomics have a new high throughput DNA sequencer which is now available for purchase!
You can get it for the low low price of $1.5M. Making it the most expensive DNA sequencer available. Ultima counter this by suggesting the platform has the lowest cost per nucleotide sequenced ($1/Gb or $100 per human genome).
That seems like an odd thing to do doesn’t it? Trying to beat the dominant player (Illumina) on cost with an expensive instrument.
Well Illumina’s revenue breakdown somewhat explains why they’re doing this:
