Does any competitor stand out against Genewiz or are you more concerned about the fragmented market? Are there factors, other than price, which come into play?

It is more the fragmented market because customers choose NGS services based on price and convenience. West Coast customers prefer not to send samples to Genewiz who is on the East Coast, so they will choose a local service provider to do their sequencing. Genewiz is advantaged by their size and capabilities, and customers still use them regardless of the location because they provide a reliable timeline. Local service providers cannot always stick to their promises when their lab is short staffed. I work with pharmaceutical companies and academic researchers, and the latter prefer to use their core. Pharmaceutical companies are also building genomics cores in their facilities running multiple sequencers; they do it in-house instead of outsourcing it.

Why do customers choose Genewiz in the first place, and how hard of a sales effort is it to get them to want to use Genewiz?

Several reasons; price and the ability to scale. Pharmaceutical companies have worked with Genewiz for years because they are close to them in New Jersey and Boston. Genewiz provides good service because they only hire PhDs as their study managers. Once a company confirms a project with Genewiz, they assign that to data managers who also project manage the account. They have a dedicated team who can communicate science to customers. That team is strict and well-trained to ensure the best customer service. In terms of a unique selling point from Genewiz, there are no new innovations, but they are consistent with good delivery and service.