July 15, 2022,MGI Tech Co., Ltd. ("MGI") and its affiliated companies announced that they have reached a settlement with Illumina, Inc. regarding all pending litigations within the United States.According to the terms of the agreement, both parties will no longer contest the rulings from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. Based on this,Illumina to Pay $325 Million (Approx. 2.2 Billion RMB) in Net Compensation to MGI Subsidiary CG。
In addition, MGI will withdraw its antitrust lawsuit against Illumina in the Northern District of California. Illumina will obtain patent licenses for MGI and its subsidiary CG's "Two-color Sequencing Technology" series. As previously announced,MGI will begin selling its CoolMPS technology-based sequencing products in the United States in August 2022, and will start selling StandardMPS-related sequencing products in January 2023.。
Both parties also agreed that, for the next three years within the United States, neither will sue the other or their customers for patent infringement, violations of U.S. antitrust laws, or unfair competition, nor will they claim damages for any potential losses caused by existing sequencing platforms.
Image Source: MGI Official Website
Thus, this patent war that lasted for three years has finally come to an end with MGI's dramatic turnaround. The $325 million compensation also sets a new record in the history of international patent litigation for Chinese enterprises!
Reviewing this patent dispute, which has had the strongest impact on the global gene sequencing industry and involved 12 countries and regions worldwide, a total of 23 lawsuits of various sizes were involved. The entire process was full of twists and turns, with both parties investing substantial human, material, and financial resources. Ultimately, the outcome is of great significance for Chinese enterprises or the domestically produced instrument industry to go global.
Although the huge compensation amount is quite eye-catching and undoubtedly important for MGI, what is more meaningful is that it has cleared the obstacles in MGI's internationalization process, while also highlighting the importance of holding core intellectual property rights.。
Reviewing the entire incident, it can be traced back to March 2019 when Illumina filed a patent lawsuit in Germany, accusing MGI of infringing one of its patents. Subsequently, Complete Genomics, a subsidiary of MGI, also filed a patent lawsuit against Illumina, Inc. at the District Court of Delaware in the United States, thus initiating the patent dispute between the two parties.
Until May 6 this year, the District Court of Delaware, USA, issued a formal ruling.:The dual-channel sequencing chemistry of some DNA sequencing systems from Illumina infringes on two patents (US Patent Nos. 9,222,132 and 10,662,473) owned by MGI, and Illumina is required to pay MGI $333.8 million in compensation.。
The above judgment, as well as the settlement and compensation reached on July 15, is undoubtedly an encouraging progress for the overseas market development of China-produced sequencing equipment and even China-produced instruments.The launch of MGI's CoolMPS™ sequencing products has undoubtedly further enhanced the performance, quality, practicality, and cost-effectiveness of its DNBSEQ series sequencing systems., will provide new strength for the leapfrog upgrade of China-produced gene sequencing technology and its entry into the international market.
DNBSEQ Advantages Fully Demonstrated
Specific Antibody Sequencing Technology Reaches New Heights in the Industry
After nearly a decade of research and development, MGI has continuously innovated to build and optimize a China-produced system, gradually showcasing its superior technical advantages. It is reported that,DNBSEQ is currently one of the few technologies globally capable of completing template amplification in solution., which uses DNA nanoballs for sequencing and signal amplification. Each time, rolling circle amplification (RCA) is performed using a fixed single-stranded DNA template, avoiding error accumulation and effectively improving sequencing accuracy.
Figure: Sequencing Principle of DNBSEQ Platform
At the same time, MGI has also deployed a full range of product systems based on DNBSEQ technology. Among them,A sequencing strategy based on StandardMPS, including the basic four-color fluorescence scheme and an innovative dual-color fluorescence scheme, can meet different application scenarios.. On this basis,CoolMPS, a non-destructive base sequencing technology based on specific antibodies, further enhances sequencing accuracy and read length potential, setting a new industry benchmark.。
Mr. Li Jiguang, Assistant Director of Sequencing Biochemical R&D at MGIIntroduced in a previous interview: "CoolMPS technology has achieved large-scale parallel sequencing through technical means using antibodies for the first time, by successfully screening out antibodies that specifically recognize unmodified reversibly blocked nucleotides.Compared with fluorescent recognition, the advantage of antibody recognition is that it can recognize unlabeled bases, so the bases of the newly synthesized strand can be natural bases. They won't affect the fluorescence signal due to scars on the bases, andEasier to be prepared for polymerization and reaction by DNA polymerase, each antibody can bind multiple fluorescent molecules, resulting in stronger base signals, higher signal intensity, and a higher signal-to-noise ratio for DNBs with the same copy number., thereby making sequencing more accurate and read lengths longer. Currently, CoolMPS technology has been effectively applied and validated in the research field, creating more possibilities for genomics research and clinical applications."
MGI Based on HotMPS Sequencing Reagents
MGI's gene sequencer officially enters the UK market
On July 8 this year, MGI announced that, effective immediately, sequencing instruments based on HotMPS high-throughput sequencing reagents could be officially sold in the UK market.The customized version of the DNBSEQ-G400 (known as MGISEQ-2000 in some overseas countries) sequencing platform, based on HotMPS high-throughput sequencing reagents, will be installed at UK customers including Imperial College London.The sequencing data of the first batch of British customers is expected to be showcased at the 14th Annual Next Generation Sequencing and Clinical Diagnostics Congress, which will be held in London this November.。
Figure: Sequencing equipment based on HotMPS high-throughput sequencing reagents
Successive "unlocking" of the US and European markets reflects international recognition of MGI, and is also a typical event for Chinese-produced sequencing instruments "going global." Moreover, with the continuous upgrading of MGI’s high-throughput sequencing technology, "innovation" has become an important label for China's gene sequencing industry. Core technology, independent control, innovative manufacturing—MGI is set to lead the rapid development of China’s high-throughput gene sequencing industry, empowering human health. Meanwhile, with the growth and development of China's sequencing technology, globalization is advancing rapidly, continuously breaking through the barriers set by industry giants.
