“Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily”, September 9 (Reporter Zheng Bingxun) Following receiving the global market distribution rights for Huada Xufeng nanopore sequencing products in June this year, Huada Intelligent Manufacturing (688114.SH) officially launched 2 new nanopore gene sequencers — CycloneSeq-WT02 and CycloneSeq-wy01.

Among them, WT02 has been open for purchase since its release, while WY01 plans to wait until the first half of 2025 for sale.

According to reports, from the release of the first self-developed high-throughput gene sequencer in 2015 to the birth of the first Huada nanopore gene sequencer, and sequencers with the three technology paths of self-luminescence, stimulated light, and non-luminescence have all been introduced. As a result, Huada Group has become the first organization in China to master “short reading length” and “long reading length” sequencing tools. It is also the only organization in the world that has mastered ultra-high throughput, ultra-low cost, and ultra-long reading length sequencers.

“From excitation luminescence sequencers to self-luminescence sequencers, to non-luminescence sequencers announced today, three types of machines combine three different principles and different sequencing methods. We are the only one in the world.” Wang Jian, co-founder and chairman of Huada Group, said at the press conference.

In recent years, competition in life science and biotechnology has become increasingly intense as countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom have introduced a series of national strategies, goals and visions for biotechnology, biomantry, engineering biology, etc. Faced with this current situation, Wang Jian believes that China needs to take the initiative to “speak out” from it.

“In the next era of life, we must not follow the same trend; we must embark on a new path and change the mode of transportation. Embark on a development path leading and supporting the world in future life science development and bioeconomic development based on big data.” Wang Jian said.

According to information, from initially being able to only buy equipment from foreign countries, to experiencing the “stuck neck” problem, to digesting technology and innovating, Huada has invested tens of billions of dollars over the past 10 years to work with upstream and downstream industry institutions to achieve a full range of life science reading, writing, and storage tools. Furthermore, in terms of “reading” tools, the DNBSeq-T20x2 made by Huada Zhizao helped reduce the cost of single-person full-genome testing reagents to less than $100. This is the world's highest throughput sequencer.

According to data from the US National Institutes of Health, the cost of sequencing a single human genome was about $1,000 in 2015 and about $0.1 million in 2009.

Regarding the newly released nanopore gene sequencer, according to Huada Group corporate personnel, CycloneSeq has completed single-bacteria assembly maps for thousands of species in the field of scientific research, and has been able to construct several animal and plant chromosome-level reference genome maps. Among them, complete analysis of the Z chromosome of the maned lion lizard was completed for the first time, and a large number of transposition units and frequent recombination regions were discovered, which suggested the potential sex determination mechanism of this species.

As an enterprise mainly engaged in the genetic sequencer and laboratory automation business, Huada Zhizao's main products include gene sequencers and supporting equipment, sequencing supporting reagents, data processing systems, etc. in the genetic sequencer business segment, as well as various products in different application stages in the laboratory automation business segment.

In recent years, the genetic sequencing industry has shown the characteristics of high concentration, strong competitiveness of leading companies, and large market share. In terms of revenue scale, Huada Intelligent Manufacturing, Illumina, and Thermo Fisher have a total market share of nearly 90%. Among them, in terms of the new installed market share of sequencing equipment, Huada Intelligent Manufacturing ranked first in the country for two consecutive years.

In the first half of 2024, Huada Intelligent Manufacturing achieved revenue of 1.209 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 16.23%, and a net loss of 0.298 billion yuan to mother, a further increase from the net loss of 98.027 million yuan in the same period last year.

In response to issues such as the order status of the newly released nanopore gene sequencer and the expected benefits to Huada Intelligent Manufacturing, Jiang Hui, Chief Operating Officer of Huada Intelligent Manufacturing, said at a media conference, “Currently, including early testing and use, the number of instruments and equipment that have been installed has reached the level of close to 50-60 units. At the same time, we have now won the bid for 4 instruments and equipment through public tenders, including universities, scientific research institutions, disease control centers, and hospital customer representatives.”

“Regarding short-term business revenue, we also have profit estimates at the time of signing the agreement. There will be a certain development in the corresponding business cycle. In this process, Huada Xufeng will provide us with a steady stream of new equipment.” Jiang Hui added.