Sage Science
Sage Science is a privately-held Beverly, Massachusetts life sciences tools company that manufactures automated electrophoresis-based DNA size selection instruments and consumables (Pippin Prep, BluePippin, PippinHT, SageHLS, SageELF) used by academic genome centers, core laboratories, and agricultural biotech researchers to prepare samples for next-generation sequencing workflows.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersBeverly, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Sage Science does
Sage Science is a privately-held life sciences tools company headquartered in Beverly, Massachusetts, that develops and manufactures automated electrophoresis-based DNA size selection instruments and consumables for next-generation sequencing (NGS) sample preparation. Founded around 2010 with the launch of the Pippin Prep system, the company has expanded into a family of instruments covering fragment selection from 100 bp to 2 Mb, including Pippin Prep, BluePippin, PippinHT, SageELF, SageHLS/HLS2 (high molecular weight extraction), and Pippin Pulse, alongside distributed consumables such as Universal Sequencing Technology's TELL-Seq linked-read kits. Its proprietary HLS-CATCH method combines electrophoresis with CRISPR/Cas9 to target and purify specific genomic regions up to 500 kb, enabling structural variant detection, haplotype phasing, and repeat-element analysis that are intractable with conventional short-read workflows.
The company's commercial model is a razor-and-blade instrument-plus-consumable structure: capital equipment (Pippin Prep, BluePippin, PippinHT, SageHLS, SageELF) is sold to academic and government genome centers, core labs, and agricultural biotech customers, while recurring revenue is generated from proprietary gel cassettes, reagent kits, and TELL-Seq consumables. Go-to-market combines direct sales in the United States with a network of regional distributors covering over 30 countries in North America, Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, the Baltics, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. Sales channels are reinforced by flagship co-marketing agreements with Illumina and Universal Sequencing Technology, integration partnerships with PacBio, Oxford Nanopore, and 10x Genomics, and active presence at major genomics conferences (AGBT, ASHG, PAG, ABRF, London Calling).
Customer adoption is anchored by reference deployments at the Broad Institute (10 Pippin Prep systems), Stanford University (Ji Lab and Urban Lab for BRCA1 and MHC phasing), the Arizona Genomics Institute and KAUST (rice pangenome research), Wageningen University (plant genome assembly and optical mapping), the Smithsonian Institution (biodiversity biorepository DNA quality), and GrandOmics/NextOmics in China (Nanopore ultra-long-read sequencing services). The company is funded primarily through historical equity/debt raises of approximately $8.65 million between 2007 and 2014, a $1.8 million NHGRI grant in 2019 for HLS-CATCH automation, and operating cash flow, with no recent disclosed equity financing. Leadership includes CEO Sadaf Hoda (in role since 2022), CSO T. Chris Boles, and EVP Patrick Carroll, supported by a board featuring instrumentation industry veterans.
Sage Science firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Sage Science
- Legal name
- Sage Science, Inc.
- Website
- https://sagescience.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Sage Science is a privately-held Beverly, Massachusetts life sciences tools company that manufactures automated electrophoresis-based DNA size selection instruments and consumables (Pippin Prep, BluePippin, PippinHT, SageHLS, SageELF) used by academic genome centers, core laboratories, and agricultural biotech researchers to prepare samples for next-generation sequencing workflows.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Sage Science industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Life Science Instrumentation (DNA Size Selection & HMW DNA Extraction)
- NAICS
- Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516)
- SIC
- Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Molecular Biology & Genomics Instruments (PCR/qPCR, Sequencing, Microarrays) (HLAGAIAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Liquid Handling & Laboratory Automation (Pipettes, Robots, Workstations) (HLAGAIAD), Laboratory Automation, Sample Prep & Liquid Handling (IVD Lab Diagnostics) (HLAHAAAN)
Keywords
Where Sage Science is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Beverly
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Sage Science business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Instrument Sales: Sale of automated DNA size selection instruments (Pippin Prep, BluePippin, PippinHT, SageHLS, SageELF, Pippin Pulse). These are capital equipment items sold to research institutions and core labs.
- Consumables: Recurring revenue from gel cassettes, reagent kits, and accessories. Products include various cassette types (2.5% agarose, 3% agarose, High Pass Plus), TELL-Seq linked-read library prep kits, and specialized reagents.
- Government Grants: Research grants from government agencies (e.g., $1.8M NHGRI grant for HLS-CATCH automation development).
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Instrument systems sold as capital equipment with associated consumable cassettes and reagents |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Sage Science product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Sage Science develops, manufactures, and sells automated electrophoresis-based DNA size selection instruments and consumables used to prepare DNA libraries for next-generation sequencing workflows. Its instruments (Pippin Prep, BluePippin, PippinHT, SageHLS/HLS2, SageELF, Pippin Pulse) replace manual gel purification by automating tight, reproducible size selection from 100 bp to 2 Mb, enabling applications across short-read and long-read sequencing, HMW target capture, and proteomics.
Product overview
Sage Science is a life science tools company that manufactures automated DNA size selection instruments and sample preparation systems for next-generation sequencing workflows. Their product portfolio centers on the Pippin family of automated electrophoretic DNA size selection instruments (Pippin Prep, BluePippin, PippinHT) that replace manual gel purification for NGS library prep. The HLS2/SageHLS platform provides high molecular weight DNA extraction and purification directly from cells, enabling long-read sequencing applications. The SageELF system offers whole sample fractionation for DNA and proteins. Sage Science also distributes Universal Sequencing Technology's TELL-Seq linked-read library kits. The products are used across DNA sequencing, RNA sequencing, target capture, genotyping, microRNA analysis, cell-free DNA, and proteomics applications, serving major genome centers, research institutions, and clinical laboratories worldwide.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Pippin Prep: DNA Size Selection System that automates collection of DNA fragments for next-generation sequencing library preparations
- BluePippin
- PippinHT
- HLS2 HMW Library System
- SageELF
- Pippin Pulse
- TELL-Seq
Products and services
- Pippin Prep DNA Size Selection System Automated DNA size selection system that selects DNA fragments from 100 bp to 1.5 kb, replacing manual gel purification for next-generation sequencing library preparations and providing narrow size distributions with high product recovery. Used by academic and government genome centers and core labs.
- BluePippin DNA Size Selection System Automated DNA size selection system that selects DNA fragments from 100 bp to 50 kb with High Pass up to 40 kb, supporting various agarose cassette types for different resolution requirements across long-read and short-read sequencing applications.
- PippinHT DNA Size Selection System
Quantifiable outcome
- 1-2 minutes of hands-on labor per sample vs. hours for manual gel extraction
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Sage Science
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Sage Science technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
Feature5 records
Sage Science partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and flagship.
- DiagenodeminorCo-hosted webinar on DNA shearing and size selection for Long-Read sequencing applications. Joint workshop covering best practices for Megaruptor3 and Pippin products for long-read sequencing.
- Universal Sequencing TechnologycoreDistribution agreement where Sage Science distributes Universal Sequencing Technology's TELL-Seq (Transposase Enzyme Linked Long-read Sequencing) barcode linked-read library prep kits to biologists in the U.S. The TELL-Seq kits complement Sage's HLS-CATCH technique for targeting and analyzing large genomic elements, enabling haplotype phasing and structural variation analysis from short-read sequencing platforms.
- Broad InstituteflagshipSale of 10 Pippin Prep DNA size selection instruments for integration into Broad Institute's genome sequencing platform. Broad scientists provided feedback key to optimizing Pippin Prep performance for next-gen sequencing applications.
- IlluminaflagshipCo-marketing agreement to promote the Pippin Prep system to Illumina sequencing customers. The goal is to provide automated gel technology for library size selection to Illumina's extensive customer base, positioning Sage products as part of standard Illumina sample prep workflows.
- 10x GenomicscoreProducts integrated with 10x Genomics Chromium and linked-read workflows. SageHLS and HLS-CATCH used with 10x Genomics technology for targeting large genomic regions and generating read clouds for de novo assembly and metagenomics applications.
- PacBiocoreProducts recommended by PacBio for size selection of HiFi WGS libraries. SageELF and PippinHT used for PacBio circular consensus sequencing and long-read sequencing applications. Collaboration on RenSeq capture for PacBio.
- Oxford Nanopore TechnologiescoreProducts used for Oxford Nanopore MinION and PromethION sequencing sample preparation. BluePippin and SageHLS enable ultra-long nanopore reads by removing short fragments from libraries ahead of sequencing.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Sage Science competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Illumina: Dominant NGS platform vendor with a longstanding co-marketing agreement with Sage (since 2010). Competes indirectly via integrated library-prep solutions (DNA Prep, tagmentation) that can reduce reliance on standalone size-selection tools.
- Agilent Technologies: Major life science tools vendor with genomics sample-prep products (SureSelect target capture, Bravo automation, TapeStation for QC). Co-markets with Sage in some workflows but competes broadly across NGS sample preparation.
- PerkinElmer (Revvity): Broad incumbent in life science tools, offering genomic sample-prep reagents (DNA extraction kits, bead-based clean-up), sequencing chemistries, and lab automation. Competes with Sage across multiple workflow steps rather than specializing in electrophoretic size selection.
Others
- 10x Genomics: Provides linked-read and single-cell genomics platforms that integrate with SageHLS and HLS-CATCH. Functions as a complementary partner in long-range sequencing workflows rather than a direct competitor in size selection.
- Universal Sequencing Technology: Develops TELL-Seq barcode linked-read library prep kits, which Sage distributes in the U.S. under a 2020 partnership. Closely aligned with Sage's HLS-CATCH method and a complementary player in long-range genomic analysis.
Direct peers
- Covaris: Direct competitor in DNA sample preparation for next-generation sequencing. Covaris offers the Adaptive Focused Acoustics (AFA) technology for DNA shearing and is widely used in NGS library prep, overlapping directly with Sage's Pippin/PippinHT size-selection workflow.
- Hamilton Company: Manufactures automated liquid-handling workstations and NGS library-prep automation used by core labs. Competes with Sage's PippinHT and SageELF in high-throughput sample-prep automation for genome centers.
- Diagenode: Manufactures the Megaruptor3 DNA shearing instrument, which is co-marketed with Sage's PippinHT and BluePippin for long-read workflows. Functions as both a partner and adjacent competitor in HMW DNA sample preparation.
- Beckman Coulter Life Sciences: Provides laboratory automation and sample-prep workstations (e.g., Biomek, AMPure bead-based size selection). Overlaps with Sage's PippinHT high-throughput cassette workflow for NGS library preparation in core labs.
Emerging players
- New England Biolabs (NEB): Provides enzymes and reagents for NGS sample preparation (NEBNext Ultra II, NEBNext FS). Increasingly competes with Sage through enzymatic and bead-based library prep methods that can displace electrophoretic size selection in many workflows.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Sage Science social profiles
Digital presenceSage Science financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Sage Science leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles8 records
Sage Science funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds6 records
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Sage Science M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Sage Science
What does Sage Science do?
Sage Science develops, manufactures, and sells automated electrophoresis-based DNA size selection instruments and consumables used to prepare DNA libraries for next-generation sequencing workflows. Its instruments (Pippin Prep, BluePippin, PippinHT, SageHLS/HLS2, SageELF, Pippin Pulse) replace manual gel purification by automating tight, reproducible size selection from 100 bp to 2 Mb, enabling applications across short-read and long-read sequencing, HMW target capture, and proteomics.
Is Sage Science a public or private company?
Sage Science is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Sage Science founded?
Sage Science was founded in 2010. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Sage Science based?
Sage Science is headquartered in Beverly, United States, in the North America region.
How does Sage Science make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Instrument Sales are the primary driver. The others are consumables and government Grants.
Who are Sage Science's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Illumina, Agilent Technologies and PerkinElmer (Revvity). Others are 10x Genomics and Universal Sequencing Technology. Direct peers are Covaris, Hamilton Company, Diagenode and Beckman Coulter Life Sciences. New England Biolabs (NEB) is listed as an emerging player.
Does Sage Science have an API?
No public API is recorded for Sage Science.
What industry is Sage Science in?
Sage Science's product category is Life Science Instrumentation (DNA Size Selection & HMW DNA Extraction). Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAGAIAF, Molecular Biology & Genomics Instruments (PCR/qPCR, Sequencing, Microarrays), with a secondary code of HLAGAIAD, Liquid Handling & Laboratory Automation (Pipettes, Robots, Workstations). Its NAICS code is 334516 and its SIC code is 3826.