10X Genomics, Century of Biology

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10X Genomics develops advanced genomics technologies to help researchers better understand complex biological systems. 10x Genomics has established itself as a leader in single cell, spatial, and in situ analysis platforms that allow researchers to study biology at an unprecedented resolution and scale.

The company was founded in 2012 with the mission to "master biology to advance human health." They aim to achieve this by leveraging genomics and multi-omics approaches to map and characterize the immense complexity of biological systems, from individual cells to entire tissues and organs. 10x Genomics recognizes that unraveling the intricacies of biology requires both high resolution data to reveal heterogeneity between cells as well as massive scale to comprehensively survey all the diverse cell types and states that exist.

To address this need, 10x Genomics has developed three complementary technology platforms: Chromium for single cell analysis, Visium for spatial analysis, and Xenium for in situ analysis. Each platform provides unique capabilities and insights to help researchers interrogate different aspects of biology.

The Chromium platform launched in 2015 and pioneered droplet-based single cell RNA sequencing, allowing individual cells to be partitioned and their transcriptomes analyzed in parallel. This overcame limitations of conventional bulk sequencing which obscures differences between cells by profiling their average gene expression. Chromium provides single cell resolution to reveal the distinct subsets and states of cells present in a sample. The platform supports a range of applications beyond single cell RNA sequencing as well, including multi-omics assays that measure proteins, chromatin accessibility, and other features in the same cells. To date, Chromium has catalyzed the single cell genomics revolution with over 4,100 instruments sold and extensive adoption across the life sciences.

Building on Chromium's success, 10x Genomics introduced the Visium platform in 2020 to enable spatially resolved transcriptomics. Unlike single cell methods which analyze cells removed from their native context, Visium characterizes gene expression while preserving spatial information about where cells reside in a tissue sample. This bridges genomics with histology to link molecular profiles with tissue morphology, providing crucial context about cell organization and interactions. The recent launch of Visium CytAssist makes the platform more accessible by streamlining sample preparation and analysis.

Most recently in 2022, 10x Genomics unveiled the Xenium platform for in situ analysis. Xenium performs targeted gene expression profiling directly in intact tissue sections, enabling spatial visualization while avoiding disruptive sample processing steps. The platform is designed for compatibility with standard clinical pathology workflows, including pairing with traditional H&E staining. Xenium aims to become a new standard for translational research and diagnostic applications that require spatial context.

10x has consistently executed a rapid cadence of new product launches, supported by a substantial R&D investment totaling over $1B to date and an extensive IP portfolio of over 1,700 patents and applications.

10x Genomics pace of progress can be attributed to assembling expertise across diverse disciplines like biology, chemistry, software, hardware, and data science. This multidisciplinary approach allows the company to build complete solutions encompassing instruments, reagents, software, and data analysis. 10x also has a proven track record of successfully acquiring and integrating new technologies, pointing to the acquisitions underlying Visium and Xenium.

From a commercial perspective, the company has established global scale and reach across industrialized countries. 10x highlights a high recurring revenue business model driven by a growing installed base of instruments and steady pull-through consumption of reagents and software. The company estimates it has currently penetrated less than 20% of its $16B total addressable market opportunity in research applications alone, suggesting significant room for growth across academic and biopharma customers.

10x Genomics positions itself as transforming life sciences research by replacing many conventional tools for profiling biological systems that suffer from limitations in either scale or resolution. The company's products reveal insights inaccessible with legacy methods across diverse applications from atlasing cell types to elucidating disease mechanisms and guiding drug development. Centered around its synergistic technology platforms, 10x has built an ecosystem of thousands of customer labs, extensive data sets and methods, and a virtuous cycle of innovation fueled by close collaboration with researchers.

10x Genomics has established leadership in advanced genomics tools to help resolve the immense complexity of biology. The company is still early in its growth trajectory and mission. Through sustained technology innovation across its distinct yet interconnected platforms, 10x aims to continue enabling revolutionary advances in the life sciences to ultimately improve human health.