Avantor Establishes Global Distribution Pact With Oxford Nanopore Technologies

Avantor, a global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the life sciences, advanced technologies and applied materials industries, has announced a global distribution agreement with Oxford Nanopore Technologies, a manufacturer of next-generation sequencing instruments, kits, and consumables. The agreement enables scientists to have broader access to Oxford Nanopore’s portable real-time nanopore sequencing device, MinION, associated consumables and reagents.
 
The agreement combines the breadth and depth of Avantor’s global laboratory customer relationships in the biopharma, healthcare, education and government, and advanced technologies and applied materials industries with the sequencing technology from Oxford Nanopore. 
 
“Avantor’s offerings are foundational to the work of scientists in fundamental research and applied settings,” said Rohit Shroff, senior vice president, Global Lab Portfolio Strategy, at Avantor. “These customers rely on our ability to bring them unparalleled choice, expertise across key workflows, innovation and a seamless purchasing experience through a market-leading digital platform. We are delighted to collaborate with Oxford Nanopore to bring transformative, new sequencing capabilities that enable breakthrough research and accelerated commercialization. Deepening access to a new generation of DNA and RNA sequencing technology will further advance Avantor’s mission of setting science in motion to create a better world.”  
 
A plug-and-play device, MinION provides real-time, high-performance, portable sequencing of DNA/RNA fragments from short to ultra-long. MinION sequencers include: MinION Mk1B, the smaller, pocket-size nanopore sequencer and MinION Mk1C, the palm-sized sequencer with an integrated computer. 
 
As part of the agreement, Avantor’s sales and life science specialist teams will provide local support for MinION. Avantor’s workflow offerings, technical insights, and global reach is designed to provide far-reaching access to life scientists everywhere. The agreement also includes distribution for MinION devices and consumables for the United States (including Puerto Rico) and Europe (including United Kingdom, Norway and Switzerland). Other regions, including Canada, will be added in 2022. 
 
“Our long-term vision is to enable the analysis of anything, by anyone, anywhere, and MinION is central to enabling this goal,” stated Gordon Sanghera, CEO at Oxford Nanopore. “We see our collaboration with Avantor as a way of broadening access further, to more scientists in more global life science communities.”
 
MinION starter packs, MinION flow cells and Oxford Nanopore Library preparation kits are available to purchase through Avantor’s e-commerce platform, vwr.com.

Nanopore technology works by passing DNA/RNA strands through a tiny hole—a nanopore—that sits in an electrically resistant membrane. As the strand passes through, the individual building blocks of the DNA/RNA cause characteristic disruptions in the current, which can be decoded to interpret the sequence in real time. Oxford Nanopore offers a range of devices from the handheld MinION device to the ultra-high output PromethION.
 
Nanopore sequencing offers a unique range of features in the sequencing market, including the ability to sequence a range of DNA/RNA fragments from short to ultra-long, the ability to sequence the native DNA/RNA molecule, real time data streaming, and scalability. This provides scalable, rapid insights and rich biological data. Nanopore sequencing has now been cited in more than 2,000 scientific publications, in a range of areas of research from human genetics, cancer research, pathogen sequencing and environmental analyses.
 
Avantor’s portfolio is used in virtually every stage of the most important research, development and production activities in the industries the company serves. Its global footprint enables the firm to serve more than 225,000 customer locations and gives it extensive access to research laboratories and scientists in more than 180 countries.