Xenium Single-cell Spatial Transcriptomics/Proteomics Instrument for Medicines Discovery Catapult

Single supplier - technical reasons

Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) intends to award a contract for the purchase of a Xenium single-cell spatial transcriptomics/proteomics instrument to 10X Genomics, on the basis that no reasonable alternative or substitute exists which meets the specific technical and operational requirements of the organisation.

Independent comparative studies have demonstrated that alternative platforms currently on the market exhibit significantly higher levels of background noise, reducing data quality in single cell spatial analysis. MDC has verified these performance results and determined that the Xenium system is uniquely capable of delivering the sensitivity and precision required for our research and service activities.

Beyond this the Xenium platform also offers operational advantages. It enables the use of panels with a low minimum run size, which aligns closely with the typical experimental scale within MDC. Competing systems require substantially higher minimum slide numbers, making them unsuitable and leading to inefficient use of resources.

In addition, acquiring the Xenium system will strengthen MDC's national role by providing UK drug discovery organisations access to a capability that is not currently available within any UK based CRO. This avoids duplication with existing commercial provider and ensures MDC can offer new and complementary capabilities to the wider life sciences community.