Global life science innovator MGI Tech Co. Ltd. (MGI) is aiming to boost its market share in the Middle East and Asia through participation at Guangdong Week, a dedicated event taking place at the world exhibition’s China Pavilion from January 11-13.

The biotech company, which is headquartered at Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, will be demonstrating its sequencing platform DNBSEQ-T7* and its automation system MGISP-NE384 at the event – the technologies that forms part of MGI’s inventory have played a prominent role in helping the Middle East and Gulf region to combat Covid-19.

“MGI’s technology has been pivotal in fighting the spread of the coronavirus through enabling its rapid detection and continued monitoring its changes. This has allowed primary health care providers and authorities to accurately track its movement and spread, and take corresponding safety and security measures to protect their populations,” said Dr. Roy Tan, General Manager of MGI Asia Pacific.

“The omicron variant has shown that the global community is far from being out of the woods yet and that new forms of the virus – including highly transmissible variants – are likely to be a feature of the Covid-19 picture moving forwards. Prompt detection and identification of such variants is essential in tackling their spread early on and is one of the key factors that influences humanity’s ability to ultimately bring the pandemic to an end. Covid-19 will invariably be a permanent feature of all our lives in the new normal, but effective gene sequencing can help to ensure that we minimize its impact by genomic surveillance of its mutation,” he added.

As well as being main tools in the armory of health care providers and authorities combating the coronavirus, MGI products are also playing a key role in supporting scientific research and applications in other areas in key regions, including the Middle East. The company says that Guangdong Week at Expo 2020 Dubai is the ideal forum to highlight its gene sequencing platforms* and automation systems to a wider global audience.

“Guangdong Week at Expo 2020 Dubai is the perfect platform to showcase MGI’s gene sequencing* technology that has been instrumental in helping countries fight the coronavirus as well as supporting their other biotechnology initiatives. With 200 nations participating at the world exhibition, and with Guangdong Week attracting officials and policy-makers from an array of countries, we see this as the perfect opportunity to heighten awareness of the difference that our technology can make,” he continued.

MGI’s DNBSEQ™ sequencing technology* has already contributed to the rapid detection and surveillance of the Covid-19 omicron variant in Saudi Arabia, whereas it was responsible for detecting the first case of the omicron variant in the country by using MGI’s sequencers* those were supplied to Saudi MOH laboratories.

MGI’s participation at Expo 2020 Dubai forms part of its overall expansion strategy in the region. The company increased its footprint in the Middle East since February 2019 with a new office opening in Dubai to better serve partners and clients in this part of the world. MGI’s expansion in the gulf region includes the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, with the company serving universities, hospitals and healthcare institutions.

In addition to its participation at the Guangdong Week at Expo 2020 Dubai, MGI is taking part at the Arab Health Exhibition and Congress (Arab Health) online from January 5 to February 28. The company will be demonstrating their MGIUS-R3 robotic ultrasound system at the event, which is the largest healthcare conference in the Middle East.

MGI will also be participating at Medlab Middle East from January 24-27 at the booth of Z4G30, held on the sidelines of Arab Health. There, it will be showcasing their DNBSEQ-G400* and DNBSEQ-G50* gene sequencing platforms, MGISTP-3000 automated sample transfer processing system, mobile platform for automated and integrated nucleic acid testing, and MGISP-Smart8 automation sample preparation system which will be launched and revealed to an international audience for the first time.