I had a chance to have a quick interview with the CEO of Omixon, Attila Bérces.
Here are his answers:
How did the idea for Omixon Target originate?
I have always been interested in how more accurate scientific computation is carried out. This is what we have been pursuing in genomics since the start of Omixon. Targeted sequencing is the application of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) where precision and accuracy really matter.
Where do you see Omixon now in the global market of NGS software?
We are a niche player that adds significant value to NGS by helping users to better analyze and visualize their data.
When do you think NGS could play a really major role in diagnostics in the clinical settings?
NGS is already playing a very important role in cancer diagnostics. Traditionally, cancer has been characterized by how it affects organs, now it is characterized by the molecular pathways affected by the somatic mutations in cancer cells.
What will the future look like?
Sequencing-based typing can provide more accurate and higher resolution results than any alternatives. However, Sanger sequencing has some inherent ambiguity, since the two alleles are sequenced concurrently. This makes the analysis difficult and the resolution of ambiguities becomes a complicated multi-day workflow. NGS does not have the ambiguity of Sanger since the two alleles are clonally amplified. I believe that a huge number of labs will simply skip the Sanger sequencing step and go directly from hybridization assays into NGS.
