A strategic collaboration has been announced between SPT Labtech a global leader in laboratory automation and liquid handling solutions, and Alithea Genomics, a pioneer in large-scale RNA sequencing and transcriptomics, to provide an automated solution for single-cell transcriptomics. , a global leader in laboratory automation and liquid handling solutions, and Alithea Genomics, a pioneer in large-scale RNA sequencing and transcriptomics, to provide an automated solution for single-cell transcriptomics.

This partnership integrates Alithea Genomics’ ultra-sensitive single-cell RNA-seq technology, MERCURIUS™ FLASH-seq, with SPT Labtech’s firefly® liquid handling platform, resulting in a scalable and reproducible workflow that is immediately available worldwide.

The collaboration directly addresses a critical bottleneck in the rapidly expanding field of single-cell transcriptomics—which is vital for advances in cell biology, immunology, and drug discovery—where manual library preparation steps often introduce variability and limit throughput. By combining the firefly's low-volume precision dispensing with Alithea Genomics’ scalable RNA-sequencing chemistry, the automated workflow significantly enhances reproducibility, throughput, and accessibility for single-cell studies, becoming essential as the demand for high-throughput, cost-efficient sequencing grows. Riccardo Dainese, CEO of Alithea Genomics, stated that the integration of MERCURIUS FLASH-seq with firefly removes key bottlenecks in library preparation, simplifying complex processes and driving down costs to empower researchers in their discovery efforts. Morten Frost, Chief Commercial Officer at SPT Labtech, added that the collaboration represents a crucial step toward broader automation of complex RNA workflows, supporting the integration of transcriptomics into translational and clinical research by enabling laboratories to achieve new levels of efficiency, reproducibility, and consistent results across both discovery and large-scale experimental designs due to the firefly's modular architecture.