Asia Pathogenomics (APG), a subsidiary of TCI Gene, recently announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Illumina Taiwan, the global leader in next-generation gene sequencing, to jointly invest in the application of "Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing (mNGS) in the field of infectious diseases". By integrating resources and expanding the clinical field of mNGS pathogen high-throughput gene sequencing, they aim to accurately solve the problematic acute and severe diseases, and allow patients to receive early treatment within the limited time, thus laying the foundation for the future direction of accurate treatment of infectious diseases in Taiwan.

Asia Pathogenomics focuses on providing infectious pathogen gene sequencing testing services to assist doctors in accurately identifying infectious pathogens and prescribing the right medication for the right condition, and it has officially passed Taiwan's LDTs certification this year, making it the first and only infectious pathogen gene sequencing testing service provider approved in country.

Since Illumina established a subsidiary in Taiwan in 2021, Illumina has been focusing more on the development of precision medical clinical testing. Illumina Taiwan Chief Operating Officer, Jerry Cheng, also sees the necessity of next-generation fund sequencing for infectious diseases, and he mentioned that there are three key factors: in addition to screening for cancers, screening for rare diseases, the inhibition of infectious diseases is the direction of development, especially after the COVID-19 has ended, it is necessary to prevent emerging infectious diseases, and many pathogens have emerged. In addition to the fact that many pathogens are resistant to drugs and cannot be detected by traditional methods, mNGS can improve diagnosis and save more precious lives.

APG also expects that through the co-operation with Illumina, mNGS will be able to help patients to obtain better treatment results by using its biotechnology, with a focus on Taiwan at this stage, and will not rule out the possibility of expanding its reach to the international market. APG also revealed the new progress in the application of mNGS, which has been used in clinical trials for central nervous system infections, respiratory infections, bloodstream infections, etc. It is expected to be used for patients in intensive care units to understand whether mNGS can detect possible infectious agents early and find corresponding treatments, which has already been approved by the IRB and is expected to have preliminary results by the end of the year at the earliest.