PacBio and Covaris Announce Joint Workflow Enabling HiFi Sequencing of FFPE Tumor Samples

Published: 2026-04-16 09:32:18 ET PACB

Published on 04/16/2026 at 09:32 am EDT

MENLO PARK, WOBURN - PacBio (NASDAQ: PACB), a leading developer of high-quality, highly accurate sequencing solutions, and Covaris, a PerkinElmer company and leader in sample preparation technologies, announced a joint workflow enabling robust HiFi sequencing of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue samples.

This new solution integrates Covaris' truXTRAC FFPE extraction technology with PacBio's Kinnex library preparation, delivering a streamlined workflow from sample to sequencing.

FFPE samples represent one of the most abundant and clinically relevant sources of biological material, particularly in oncology research. However, DNA damage and fragmentation caused by fixation have historically limited their compatibility with long-read sequencing approaches. The combined Covaris-PacBio workflow overcomes these challenges, enabling researchers to generate high-quality HiFi sequencing data from archived tumor samples.

The workflow leverages Covaris' Adaptive Focused Acoustics (AFA)-based truXTRAC FFPE extraction method to recover longer DNA fragments, up to 5,000 base pairs, from FFPE tissues. PacBio's Kinnex library preparation then concatenates these fragments into longer molecules suitable for HiFi sequencing, improving sequencing efficiency and data quality.

In studies across brain, kidney, and uterine tumor samples, the workflow produced more than 100 million HiFi reads per sample, with mean read lengths of 750-1,500 base pairs. The resulting data enabled detection of over 11,000 structural variants and more than 5 million small variants per sample, with approximately 60% phased into haplotypes, demonstrating the power of long-read sequencing for comprehensive genomic analysis of FFPE specimens.

'This collaboration reflects our shared commitment to advancing genomic research through innovative, integrated solutions,' said Annemarie Watson, CEO of Covaris. 'By combining our proven AFA-based extraction technology with PacBio's sequencing expertise, we are enabling researchers to unlock valuable insights from even the most challenging FFPE samples, helping accelerate discoveries in cancer biology and beyond.'

'What's so exciting about this workflow is that it opens up vast archives of banked samples for HiFi sequencing,' said Dave Miller, Vice President of Global Marketing at PacBio. 'Clinical researchers can now revisit these samples to uncover structural variation, phase mutations, and gain deeper insights into cancer genomes, ultimately expanding discovery and accelerating progress in oncology.'

The combined workflow demonstrates consistent performance across diverse tissue types and varying DNA quality, enabling comprehensive genomic profiling, including structural variant detection and somatic mutation phasing. By making FFPE samples compatible with HiFi sequencing, PacBio and Covaris are empowering researchers to extract more value from existing sample collections and drive new discoveries from previously inaccessible data.

About PacBio

PacBio (NASDAQ: PACB) is a premier life science technology company that designs, develops, and manufactures advanced sequencing solutions to help scientists and clinical researchers resolve genetically complex problems. Our products and technologies, which include our HiFi long-read sequencing, address solutions across a broad set of research applications including human germline sequencing, plant and animal sciences, infectious disease and microbiology, oncology, and other emerging applications.

PacBio products are provided for Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

About Covaris, LLC

Covaris, a PerkinElmer Company, develops, manufactures, and markets instruments, consumables, and reagents used in pre-analytical sample preparation for genomic and proteomic analysis to help accelerate the pace of research and life science innovations. Using proprietary technologies including focused acoustic energy, Covaris' tools achieve highly accurate and reproducible results with the goal of empowering customers to make new discoveries, develop new assays and improve bioanalytical results. Some of the non-contact applications include faster automated DNA fragmentation, cell lysis, accelerated binding partner mixing, bead resuspension, and compound formulation.

Contact:

Email: [email protected]

Markus Leutert

Email: [email protected]