NGS for pharmaceutical research and development

Faster results, simpler analyses, and lower costs to support drug discovery solutions and development

Profile image of a male scientist selecting the start screen on a NextSeq 1000/2000 in a dry lab on a benchtop, other instruments and packaging blurry in the background.

Make drug discoveries faster and smarter with NGS

Pharmaceutical teams increasingly rely on deeper, higher‑quality biological data to understand disease from every angle. With the power of next-generation sequencing (NGS), you can generate richer insights, increase control over your data, and make faster decisions all directly within your lab.

Unlock deeper biological context across every method

Modern discovery requires integrating multiple layers of biology. By linking disease drivers, regulators, and downstream consequences, NGS solutions empower pharmaceutical teams to combine DNA panels, RNA‑Seq, CRISPR screens, and proteomics to move from trial‑and‑error to biology‑informed, precision-based discovery pipelines.

Bring sequencing in‑house and accelerate your pipeline

In‑lab NGS gives you:

  • More control over timelines, sample batching, and data security
  • Faster turnaround, enabling rapid iteration and reduced reliance on CRO cycles
  • Cost savings, with benchtop systems that reduce run costs by up to 40%
  • Seamless analysis, with push‑button workflows requiring no bioinformatics expertise

Unlock NGS insights to accelerate drug discoveries

This eBook provides powerful tools to interrogate data across pharmaceutical research methods from oncology research to genetic disease research, and more.

Illumina in-lab sequencing reimagined for modern pharmaceutical research and development

Pharmaceutical teams increasingly rely on deeper, higher‑quality biological data to understand disease from every angle. With the power of next-generation sequencing (NGS), you can generate richer insights, increase control over your data, and make faster decisions all directly within your lab.

Richer insights with lower costs

Comprehensive NGS profiling enables better target identification, rapid validation, and improved understanding of biomarker‑driven patient subgroups to help reduce overall development costs and avoid expensive late‑stage surprises.

Simplified, intuitive analysis

Illumina onboard and cloud‑based analysis are equipped with push‑button workflows for the most common applications used in the pharmaceutical discovery. Have confidence using real, proven insights for interpretation with field-leading accuracy fueled by AI-powered analysis to drive decisions.

Ultra‑fast at every step

Illumina offers the speed and efficiency for every stage of the workflow:

  • Setup: Three‑step library‑to‑run setup in < 20 minutes on the MiSeq i100 Series
  • Sequencing: Get rapid insights with sequencing run times as fast as four hours
  • Analysis: Summary‑ready results in two hours or less on‑premises or on the cloud

Multiomic sequencing for many applications, right on your bench

Illumina benchtop systems are cited across thousands of peer‑reviewed studies and support a wide range of applications including DNA panels, RNA‑Seq, single‑cell, small RNA, CRISPR screens, methylation, and proteomics, making them a versatile foundation for modern pharma discovery.

A breakthrough in analysis speed, accuracy, and security with DRAGEN v4.4

Learn more about the transformative potential of DRAGEN v4.4, where state-of-the-art, fully-integrated technology empowers you to explore new frontiers in omic research applications with precision, scale, speed, and insight like never before.

Sample-to-answer solutions for drug discovery pipelines

Pharmaceutical teams increasingly rely on deeper, higher‑quality biological data to understand disease from every angle. With the power of next-generation sequencing (NGS), you can generate richer insights, increase control over your data, and make faster decisions all directly within your lab.

RNA sequencing

RNA provides dynamic insight into disease biology across actively expressed biomarkers, tissue‑specific signatures, treatment‑response pathways, and post-transcriptional regulation of drug resistance and responses. Illumina offers streamlined, proven RNA sequencing workflows for:

RNA‑Seq

Characterize entire transcriptomes, detect novel features, and quantify expression with gold‑standard Illumina workflows.

Learn more about RNA‑Seq

Learn more about total RNA-Seq

Illumina RNA Prep with Enrichment

Small RNA‑Seq

Profile microRNAs and other short RNA species that regulate drug response, therapy resistance, and disease mechanisms.

Learn more about small RNA‑Seq

Rapid, intuitive benchtop sequencing solutions

Fast, simple, and sustainable

Purpose‑built for pharma discovery, the MiSeq i100 Series delivers fast, easy benchtop sequencing with validated end‑to‑end DNA panel workflows. In addition, the MiSeq i100 Series delivers fast run times for targeted DNA panels, pre‑designed workflows for oncology, genetic disease research, and more.

Explore MiSeq i100 Series applications and methods

Flexible and cost-effective for a wide range of applications

The NextSeq 550 Sequencing System enables pharmaceutical research teams to combine NGS along with array scanning capabilities across a range of applications in a single system.

Explore NextSeq 550 Sequencing System applications and methods

Expanded capabilities using innovative and intuitive workflows

The NextSeq 1000 and NextSeq 2000 Sequencing Systems offer pharmaceutical teams expanded configurations to reduce cost and waste while offering robust performance on proven and intuitive platforms.

Explore NextSeq 1000 & 2000 Sequencing Systems applications and methods

Single-cell sequencing

CRISPR perturbation at scale

Illumina and Broad Clinical Labs combine CRISPR Perturb‑seq to deliver rapid, consistent generation of large‑scale functional genomics data. These capabilities support the Illumina Billion Cell Atlas to help researchers characterize gene function, validate targets, and model disease mechanisms with confidence.

Learn more about CRISPR and Purturb-Seq in this press release

Learn about perturbation-rich data sets from the Illumina Billion Cell Atlas project

Single‑cell RNA‑Seq with Illumina Single Cell 3’ RNA Prep

Illumina Single Cell Prep and the 3' RNA workflow enable high‑throughput profiling of thousands to millions of cells, producing standardized, reproducible RNA‑Seq data ideal for cell‑type discovery, pathway analysis, and early target identification.

Learn more about Illumina Single-Cell 3’ RNA Prep

Multiomics for a more complete biological understanding

Approach discovery from multiple angles simultaneously, by reducing blind spots and enhancing mechanistic insight to decipher complex biology. Illumina multiomics solutions to enable you to profile genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, and proteomics for richer insights into the causes and consequences of disease in a single sample.

Multiomics

Characterize entire transcriptomes, detect novel features, and quantify expression with gold‑standard Illumina workflows.

Learn more about multiomics

Clinical research assays

Bridge discovery and clinical research using Illumina oncology, rare disease, infectious disease, reproductive health, and multiomic assay solutions.

Explore clinical research products

Speak to a specialist

Interested in learning more about how to collaborate with Illumina or want to know more about instrument insourcing solutions? Fill out the form and a specialist will be in touch with you soon!