Beckman Coulter Life Sciences and Watchmaker Genomics Announce Partnership

INDIANAPOLIS – (April 30, 2024) – Beckman Coulter Life Sciences, a global leader in laboratory automation and innovation, has entered a collaborative partnership with Watchmaker Genomics, an expert in genomics tools development for high-stringency clinical and translational applications. The partnership harnesses the value of each organization to deliver robust and reliable automated liquid handling solutions that enable labs to streamline operations and generate consistent results.

As part of the agreement, the two companies will co-develop methods for NGS library preparation leveraging Watchmaker’s portfolio of rapid and highly sensitive DNA and RNA solutions on the Biomek i7 Dual Hybrid Liquid Handler from Beckman Coulter Life Sciences. The tip-based automated liquid handler offers a complete walkaway solution that is flexible and versatile, allowing a variety of sample sizes, reagent volumes, labware, device integrations, and supplemental steps to transform laboratory workflows.

“The genomics field requires innovative tools that address bottlenecks in both workflow and sensitivity while also delivering robust performance with highly challenging sample types,” said Kerri Stellato, Chief Commercial Officer at Watchmaker Genomics. “This collaboration will deliver solutions that check all of those boxes – ultimately saving users time and operational bandwidth while improving data quality.”

With the global NGS market projected to grow to nearly $27 billion by 2027¹, demand is expected to increase for solutions to provide critical assistance to NGS labs.

“As more labs around the world tap into next generation sequencing, we’re ready to help by delivering innovative solutions to reduce complexities and turnaround time while improving accuracy,” said Elsa Burgess, Vice President and General Manager of Biotech Workflow Solutions at Beckman Coulter Life Sciences. “This partnership fuels our mission to help labs of all sizes harness the benefits of automation to accelerate pioneering research discoveries, whether for NGS needs, sample management, drug discovery, functional screening, synthetic biology, or proteomics.”

One of the first outputs of this collaboration will be an RNA library preparation method that enables walkaway, automated processing of up to 96 libraries in under 8 hours. The method will use the Watchmaker RNA Library Prep Kit with Polaris Depletion and support clinically relevant samples, including formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples, as well as input amounts as low as 1 ng.

###

About Beckman Coulter Life Sciences

With a relentless mission to empower those seeking answers to life’s important scientific questions, Beckman Coulter Life Sciences is a preferred laboratory partner providing automation and innovation solutions for Centrifugation, Flow Cytometry, Genomics, Particle Analysis, and Liquid Handling workflows. With a legacy dating back to 1935, our technologies reduce manual laboratory processes and can provide greater speed, accuracy, and advanced analytics to accelerate answers with a guiding focus to improve patient care and enable pioneering discoveries. Beckman Coulter Life Sciences is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana with 11 operational hubs around the world and employs approximately 2,800 associates with more than 400,000 systems installed globally. Get to know us by clicking here and by following us on LinkedIn.

About Watchmaker Genomics

Watchmaker Genomics applies advanced enzymology to enable breakthrough applications for the reading, writing, and editing of DNA and RNA. The company combines domain expertise in protein engineering with large-scale enzyme manufacturing to address the demanding quality, performance, and scale requirements of high-growth clinical genomics applications. Watchmaker's product portfolio includes enzymes and kits for next-generation sequencing, synthetic biology, and molecular diagnostics. For more information, please visit www.watchmakergenomics.comor find us on LinkedIn.

Biomek Liquid Handlers are not intended or validated for use in the diagnosis of disease or other conditions.

Beckman Coulter, the stylized logo, and the Beckman Coulter product and service marks mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Beckman Coulter, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

¹Forecast from Markets and Markets, January 2023