We’ve had a tumultuous last couple of months in Spatial Biology, with NanoString NSTG 0.00%↑ , first announcing their bankruptcy, mainly caused by them losing the patent legal battles with 10X Genomics TXG 0.00%↑ , and later announcing their acquisition by Bruker BRKR 0.00%↑ .
Bruker’s acquisition of NanoString most likely guarantees that the technology will remain available, if not in every territory, at least in many. Bruker expands their reach in the Single-cell and Spatial Biology segments, now having acquired NSTG but also Berkeley Lights and Isoplexis before (single-cell phenomics).
The Image-based Spatial Biology segment continues to grow, and based on publications for the first quarter of 2024, we surprisingly see a lot of scientists using VizGen MERFISH (1st) over other more prominent technologies, such as NanoString CosMX (2nd) and TGX Xenium (3rd). Molecular Cartography is in a tie with Xenium for 3rd place.
Vizgen has recently granted another patent covering in situ imaging of the spatial transcriptome using MERFISH technology. They also presented an updated roadmap including enhanced chemistry updates, and the launch of the MERSCOPE 1000-plex Gene Panels.