By Puyaan Singh and Bhanvi Satija

Oct 9 (Reuters) -

Medical equipment maker Illumina ( ILMN ) on Wednesday

announced its new series of smaller, low-cost benchtop gene

sequencers, a move that will make sequencing accessible to more

research and testing labs.

New generation sequencers, like Illumina's ( ILMN ) MiSeq devices,

help determine the sequence of DNA or RNA to study genetic

variation associated with diseases and diagnose rare genetic

conditions.

Unlike Illumina's ( ILMN ) NovaSeq X devices, which are as large as a

Xerox copier and designed for in-depth sequencing, the new MiSeq

i100 and MiSeq i100 Plus systems are compact enough to be placed

on benchtops, allowing smaller labs, which typically outsource

gene sequencing, to have these capabilities in-house.

The U.S. list price for the NovaSeq X devices starts at just

under $1 million compared to the MiSeq i100, which is priced at

$49,000 in the United States.

The i100 Plus system, designed to process a greater

number of samples, has a list price of $109,000.

The new MiSeq devices can produce results in just four

hours, four times faster than the older MiSeq sequencer and is

priced at $99,000.

CEO Jacob Thaysen stated that the new sequencers

represent a billion-dollar opportunity for Illumina ( ILMN ).

"Instead of having a PhD to run the sequencer, we can now

have lab techs do it; instead of waiting overnight for

sequencing, we can do it in one day," Thaysen said.

MiSeq i100 devices will offer 18 different programs

accessible on the instrument and in the cloud.

These include panels for detecting respiratory and

urinary pathogens, conducting influenza A and B surveillance,

and utilizing multiple cancer research panels.

The San Diego-based company said it is taking pre-orders for

the systems and will start shipping them globally in 2025.

Illumina ( ILMN ) said the reagents used in these devices can be

shipped and stored at room temperature, eliminating the need for

costly and bulky freezers.