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Continuing from our previous article, we’re reviewing the top announcements from the AGBT 2025 General Meeting. In this segment, we highlight additional important technologies and introduce some newcomers to the field.
Bruker
Bruker demonstrated the power of their spatial technologies at the meeting by presenting numerous technology updates, which were showcased in both groundbreaking research and sponsored talks. The first advancement was the release of a Whole Transcriptome Panel (WTX) for the CosMx Spatial Molecular Imager (SMI) platform. The WTX panel boasts the capability to detect and quantify over 18,000 RNA transcripts at single-cell and subcellular resolution. In addition, Bruker introduced their PaintScape platform that allows for direct visualization of the 3D genome including chromosomal structure and genome architecture in single cells. The data generated from PaintScape looks promising and has the potential to change the way researchers study the 3D genome.
Along with these updates, Bruker executives presented developments to the CellScape spatial proteomics platform with the launch of the PowerOMX software engine. This data engine enhances their advanced photobleaching technology, EpicIF (Enhanced Photobleaching in Cyclic Immunofluorescence), optimizing data acquisition, processing, and reconstruction to improve throughput, image quality, and data integrity. Finally, Bruker announced a significant expansion to the GeoMx protein panel with the capability of performing 1,000-plex experiments on the associated platform.
Parse Biosciences
Charlie Roco, CTO and Co-Founder of Parse Biosciences, shared the company’s key updates during their sponsored talk. In addition to highlighting their rapid growth, Roco discussed the launch of Evercode WT Penta and Penta 384. These kits allow researchers to profile 5 million cells and 384 samples in one run. Other recent developments include Parse’s Mouse BCR and Transgenic Mouse BCR for antibody discovery and immunology studies. Roco also emphasized their successful partnerships with Ultima and Vevo Therapeutics on large-scale projects, as well as a recent preprint featuring a massive single-cell atlas containing 100 million transcriptomic profiles generated with their technology.
Watchmaker Genomics
Watchmaker Genomics is driving progress in epigenetic sequencing analysis with the commercialization of their TAPS (TET-assisted pyridine borane sequencing) technology. Developed under a co-exclusive agreement with Exact Sciences, TAPS enhances DNA methylation analysis by enabling high-fidelity methylation mapping while preserving genomic complexity and minimizing DNA template damage compared to bisulfite sequencing.
As part of its expansion strategy, Watchmaker is optimizing TAPS-powered products, with early access programs launching soon and full commercialization expected by late 2025. Additionally, Broad Clinical Labs showcased data during the poster sessions demonstrating how Watchmaker’s other prep kits enable high-quality transcriptomic analysis from notoriously challenging sample types.
Stellaromics
Stellaromics, a newer entrant into spatial biology, attended the meeting to highlight their 3D profiling platform, Pyxa. As spatial biology is starting to quickly expand, Pyxa stands out for its ability to analyze thicker tissue slices (100μm or more) while still providing sub-cellular resolution and multiomic spatial profiling. Built on STARmap and RIBOmap technologies, this platform originates from the research of Karl Deisseroth (Stanford University) and Xiao Wang (MIT and Broad Institute). In addition, Pyxa supports sub-cellular resolution, the simultaneous analysis of hundreds to thousands of genes, and an automated workflow for streamlined sample preparation and data analysis. Early users have already utilized Pyxa’s capabilities to study tumor heterogeneity, neural connectivity, and genetic perturbations. The early access program for Pyxa is fully subscribed and expected to launch in the second half of 2025.
New England Biolabs (NEB)
At the meeting, NEB presented results from their recent kits to highlight the advancements in their enzymatic technologies. Among the technologies NEB presented was EM-seq v2, an enhanced enzyme-based alternative to bisulfite sequencing that detects 5mC and 5hmC without damaging DNA. The updated kit supports a wider input range (100 pg–200 ng) and features a faster, more efficient workflow. Other key improvements include lower DNA input requirements (down to 100 pg), streamlined incubation steps, and enhanced sequencing performance with better GC coverage and CpG detection. The group also presented a talk focused on their NEBNext UltraExpress DNA and RNA library preps. They highlighted the fast workflows, fewer cleanups, and wider inputs accepted for these kits. NEB also took this time to tease some updates on a new low-bias small RNA kit.
seqWell
The week before the meeting, the seqWell team announced the early access launch of their MosaiX Library Prep Kit. MosaiX was designed for human population genomics applications, such as whole exome and whole genome sequencing. Powered by seqWell’s proprietary TnX transposase, this new kit demonstrates improved activity, reduced insertion-site bias, and a 90-minute end-to-end workflow. The updated chemistry for MosaiX involves directional tagmentation, while also providing high-complexity and uniform libraries. seqWell also opened an early access program for their PhiRx, a spike-in control library designed to improve color balancing and demultiplexing on Illumina's XLEAP-SBS sequencing systems. PhiRx helps recover sequencing data lost due to color imbalance, which reduces the amount of undetermined reads and improves run performance.
10x Genomics
10x Genomics hosted a pre-conference workshop that shared their 2025 roadmap and exciting research enabled by their tools. This roadmap introduces GEM-X Flex plate-based workflows, enabling large-scale single-cell analysis with support for over 700 samples per run and recovery of up to 8 million cells per chip. The company also shared details for 10x Cloud Analysis for Large Studies, which scale, streamline, and automate data analysis capabilities. In spatial biology, the Visium HD platform is expanding with Visium HD 3', a high-resolution whole transcriptome spatial profiling assay, and Visium HD Cell Segmentation, which improves morphology-guided spatial transcriptomics. Furthermore, the new Visium HD XL will increase capture area for larger tissue sections. Finally, the Xenium platform will integrate RNA and protein detection in a single assay, which also features a validated immunology panel with up to 28 protein targets.
Ultima Genomics
Saving one of the bigger developments for last, Ultima shared major updates to their technology during a sponsored workshop at the conference. Their biggest announcement was the launch of UG 100 Solaris. This collection of product advancements includes streamlined workflows, along with new chemistry and software. These workflows feature Solaris Free for PCR-free libraries and Solaris Flex for amplified and converted libraries. Additionally, UG 100 Solaris increases sequencing output by over 50%, while obtaining 10–12 billion reads per wafer. This development includes a significant price reduction (20%) to $0.24 per million reads to enable an $80 genome. The improved sensitivity from Solaris also shows improved sensitivity with the SNVQ60 ppmSeq mode and improves yield 5X.
Another development was the release of Solaris Boost, a new high-throughput operating mode providing up to 100 billion reads per day for select short read applications. Ultima has already begun installing Solaris Boost to early access sites with full availability later in 2025. Gilad Almogy, CEO of Ultima Genomics, took this time to also highlight the company’s latest achievements like the growing list of sequencing service providers that now utilize the UG 100 sequencing platform, as well as participation in various large-scale projects such as the Billion Cells Project, UK Biobank’s Human Proteome Study, and more.
If there are any important announcements we missed, login and share them with us in the comment section below! Stay tuned for our upcoming editorial that dives deeper into some of these announcements and shares additional insights from the teams responsible for their development.