Illumina (ILMN) Ties Up With Thermo Fisher For Ion AmpliSeq

Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) has signed a commercial agreement to distribute Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.’s (NYSE:TMO) Ion AmpliSeq technology to researchers who conduct studies on Illumina’s next-generation sequencing (NGS) platform.

As per the terms of the agreement, Thermo Fisher will provide Illumina with Ion AmpliSeq technology for research use. Notably, amplicon technology is highly effective in capturing DNA and RNA from very limited amount of samples for application in a range of research areas. Ion AmpliSeq technology was developed to facilitate amplicon sequencing on the Ion Torrent NGS systems.

Illumina will now distribute the product directly to customers under the brand AmpliSeq. Meanwhile, Thermo Fisher will continue to sell Ion AmpliSeq chemistry for both IVD and RUO applications to Ion Torrent NGS customers. Furthermore, Thermo Fisher will retain the right to make the technology available on other next-generation sequencing platforms.

Next-generation Sequencing Platform in Focus

Illumina is consistently working on enhancing its next-generation sequencing platform. Illumina recently introduced its second FDA-regulated and CE-IVD marked next-generation sequencing system — NextSeq 550Dx. In August 2017, Illumina partnered with Telegraph Hill Partners to set up an independent company Verogen, Inc. The entity is expected to strengthen Illumina’s NGS business in the forensic genomics market.

According to Markets and Markets, the global next-generation sequencing market is estimated to reach a worth of $12.45 billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 20.5%.

Over the last three months, Illumina has gained 18.7% as against the broader industry’s decline of 6.1%.

Estimate Revision Trend

The current estimate revision trend is favorable. For the current year, four estimates moved north compared with one movement in the opposite direction over the last two months. As a result, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the full year has risen 0.5% to $3.76 per share over the same period.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Illumina carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

A couple of better-ranked stocks in the broader medical sector are Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMED) and Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) .

Bio-Rad Laboratories flaunts a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.The company has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 25%.

Amedisys has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 18.5%. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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