PacBio and Berry Genomics reported that Berry’s Sequel II CNDx system—built on PacBio HiFi long‑read technology—received Class III medical device approval from China’s NMPA, marking the first regulatory clearance for a clinical‑grade long‑read sequencer. Berry pairs the system with a thalassemia assay and software to deliver an end‑to‑end clinical workflow for complex variant detection in carrier, prenatal and rare disease testing. At the same time Swiss Rockets secured an exclusive license to MGI/Complete Genomics’ CoolMPS chemistry for global commercialization outside Asia‑Pacific, positioning the Swiss firm to launch CoolMPS‑based sequencers next year. Swiss Rockets plans to leverage the license to compete in Western markets where MGI’s footprint has been limited. Together these moves intensify competition in NGS instrumentation and suggest expanding clinical adoption of technologies that resolve structural variants and difficult genomic regions, with potential near‑term impacts on rare‑disease diagnostics and genetic screening programs.