Hartwig and Ultima Expand Collaboration to Advance WGS in Oncology Care

12-06-2026

Hartwig and Ultima strengthen collaboration on whole‑genome sequencing

Hartwig Medical Foundation to adopt Ultima Genomics’ UG200 sequencing system to accelerate implementation of whole-genome-based clinical genomics workflows on Solaris 2.0 technology

Hartwig and Ultima to continue implementation and validation of ppmSeq, the only decentralizable whole-genome solution commercially available today for monitoring of minimal residual disease (MRD) with low single-digit part-per-million sensitivity.

In the photo from left to right: Gilad Almogy, CEO at Ultima Genomics, Stan Cherel, VP at Ultima Genomics, Edwin Cuppen, Scientific Director at Hartwig Medical Foundation, Joris Schoonderwoerd, Innovation Specialist at Hartwig Medical Foundation, Ewart de Bruijn, Lead Innovation at Hartwig Medical Foundation.

New UG200 sequencer accelerates clinical adoption of WGS

Hartwig Medical Foundation and Ultima Genomics today announced an expansion of their strategic collaboration, marked by Hartwig’s adoption of the new Ultima UG200™, Ultima’s 2nd generation sequencing system. The agreement builds on the organization’s existing work with Ultima’s technology and is designed to accelerate Hartwig’s mission to make whole-genome sequencing (WGS) more accessible, scalable, and clinically actionable for oncology patients.

Why WGS matters for cancer diagnostics

Hartwig has been a pioneer in applying WGS for cancer diagnostics. Through OncoAct Whole Genome Sequencing (OncoAct WGS), Hartwig’s comprehensive molecular diagnostic service for solid tumors analyzes the tumor genome to identify clinically relevant biomarkers, therapy options, and potential clinical trial matches.

New sequencing architecture supports emerging applications

Hartwig has been working with Ultima’s first-generation sequencing system, the UG 100®, since 2024 to build deployable bioinformatics solutions and demonstrate the utility of Ultima’s new sequencing architecture for WGS in cancer testing and emerging applications such as liquid biopsy and minimal residual disease (MRD). With the addition of the UG200, Hartwig expands the scale, throughput, and breadth of its sequencing capabilities while continuing to reduce the overall cost of cancer testing and generating comprehensive genomic data across different oncology applications.

How Solaris 2.0 workflows improve laboratory performance

Ultima’s UG200 is powered by Ultima’s new Solaris 2.0 workflows, which provide significant advantages for deploying the UG200 into clinical laboratory settings. The simplified workflows employ an isothermal amplification process, instead of previously used emulsion-based amplification, and now integrate with standard laboratory automation and improve coverage uniformity across challenging genomic regions.

Reduced hands‑on time and increased automation

The workflows reduce hands-on time, simplify operations, and are designed to support clinical-scale deployment and automation. The workflows also enable Ultima’s ultrasensitive ppmSeq technology, which provides single-digit part-per-million accuracy using WGS for applications like MRD.

“Whole-genome sequencing for oncology applications becomes transformative when it is paired with the accuracy of our flow-based chemistry and is no longer constrained by cost, capacity, or operational complexity,” said Gilad Almogy, CEO of Ultima Genomics. “Hartwig has already shown what is possible when comprehensive genomic information is connected to clinical decision-making. This next phase is about building the clinical infrastructure that enables WGS to become routine for oncology in global settings, while also opening the door to employing WGS in applications requiring deeper sequencing and extreme accuracy, such as MRD.”

Research in the Netherlands: collaboration with NKI/Antoni van Leeuwenhoek

A central objective of the expanded collaboration between Ultima and Hartwig is to further validate and implement Ultima’s ppmSeq technology for whole-genome-informed circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) monitoring. Hartwig’s comprehensive tumor-genome foundation enables development of a pure WGS-based MRD approach without the operational burden of bespoke panel design, manufacturing, or patient-specific assay production.

Today, ppmSeq technology is the only broadly available, decentralized whole genome MRD workflow that can be implemented by clinical users in-house in global settings with ultra-sensitive levels of detection down to the single-digit ppm range.

This work is closely aligned with Hartwig’s clinical research direction in the Netherlands, including ongoing efforts for setting up clinical studies designed to evaluate blood-based ctDNA monitoring in patients already undergoing standard WGS-based molecular diagnostics at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI/Antoni van Leeuwenhoek). Findings from such studies are expected to help define the clinical utility, health-economic value, and implementation pathway for broader adoption of WGS-based disease monitoring in Dutch oncology care. Together, Hartwig and Ultima aim to generate evidence that supports not only technical feasibility, but also patient impact, cost-benefit assessment, and routine-care adoption.

Patient impact: from diagnosis to disease monitoring

“OncoAct WGS was built on the principle that the complete cancer genome can provide a more complete view of the patient’s disease, resulting in improved clinical actionability and more patient impact,” said Edwin Cuppen, Scientific Director at Hartwig Medical Foundation. “With the UG200, we can extend that principle from therapy selection at diagnosis toward longitudinal, high-resolution disease monitoring using a one-size-fits all assay. The question is no longer whether WGS can provide value. The question is how quickly we can build the evidence, workflows, and clinical infrastructure to make that value available to more patients.”

Expanding OncoAnalyser to support Ultima data

Finally, the collaboration will also focus on building practical end-to-end workflows including extension of the Hartwig-developed comprehensive open-source cancer genomics tools (OncoAnalyser) to optimally support Ultima data and longitudinal ctDNA analysis to help the broader clinical genomics community implement Ultima technology in-house.

The future of WGS in oncology care

Hartwig and Ultima intend to continue working together across laboratory automation, sample preparation, sequencing operations, data quality control, and bioinformatics.

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