10x Genomics (Nasdaq: TXG) announced on Sept. 29, 2026 the start of commercial shipments of its Atera spatial biology platform, which was introduced in April 2026. The Pleasanton, Calif.-based company said booked orders exceeded the 40 instruments it had expected to ship in 2026, as disclosed at its second-quarter earnings call.

Atera is designed to combine whole transcriptome analysis, sub-cellular resolution, single-cell sensitivity and large-scale profiling in a single platform. Early users at the Allen Institute generated whole transcriptome spatial datasets across more than 350,000 cells combined from human skin and duodenum tissue. The Allen Institute plans to deploy three instruments across immunology, neuroscience and synthetic biology research.

Other early adopters include the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), part of City of Hope. Nearly all of the world's top 20 R&D-spending biopharma companies are either purchasing Atera systems or accessing the platform through 10x Genomics' Catalyst Research Services, according to the company.

Procter & Gamble is also using Catalyst Research Services to access Atera for skin research. In five months, projects have been booked across more than 100 customers through that service.

The Asia-Pacific Spatial Translational Research Alliance (ASTRA), launched in 2025 to build a pan-cancer spatial atlas, plans to use Atera to expand its atlas to 5,000 tumors over the next two years, up from an original three-year goal of 2,000 tumors. ASTRA has expanded to include researchers in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, in addition to Japan and Australia.

10x Genomics outlined planned additions to the Atera platform, including onboard slide preparation automation, RNA-protein multiomics capabilities and in-situ mutation detection. The company also said mouse whole transcriptome capabilities are planned.

This article is based on a press release statement from 10x Genomics.