Almost a year after Nature called spatial proteomics the “Method of the Year,” the market is expected to reach $99.1 million in 2025, up from $87.5 million in 2024. Interestingly, the rise of spatial proteomics and spatial biology led to legal disputes between some of the top companies: 10x Genomics, NanoString and Bruker.
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The legal saga
In Feb. 2022, 10x Genomics filed an intellectual property lawsuit against NanoString for the infringement of two patents owned by 10x Genomics and Harvard. In May of 2023, 10x Genomics filed for and was granted a permanent injunction against NanoString’s CosMx spatial molecular imager (SMI) in Germany.
In June of 2023, 10x Genomics filed for a preliminary injunction against CosMx in the Unified Patent Court (UPC) in Europe.
In Nov. 2023, a Delaware jury found that NanoString’s GeoMx products willfully infringed seven patents. 10x Genomics was awarded $31.5 million in total damages. The next month, the court granted 10x Genomics a permanent injunction against GeoMx sales in the U.S.
The legal troubles caused NanoString to file for bankruptcy in Feb. of 2024. At the same time, the UPC Court of Appeal overturns the European preliminary injunction against CosMx, allowing NanoString to resume selling the products there.
In April 2024, Bruker acquired NanoString, including the offending products, for $392.6 million. Bruker then forms its spatial biology segment as it inherits the litigation and the $31.5 million NanoString owed to 10x Genomics.
In May 2025, after Bruker acquired NanoString, the companies reached a global cross-license agreement to end the litigation. Under the agreement, Bruker will pay 10x Genomics $68 million in installments between the third quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026. Bruker will also pay ongoing royalties to 10x Genomics on sales of the spatial biology products.
How legal drama affects the market
Bruker reported a total revenue of $860.5 million, a year-over-year decrease of 0.5%, in the third quarter of 2025. The company projects a total revenue of approximately $3.4 billion for FY2025.
“Bruker’s narrative fair value of $47.82 stands well above its recent close at $40.38, hinting at potential upside should consensus expectations play out,” according to an article by Simply Wall St. At the same time, the analyst cautioned that funding cuts and market uncertainties remain major risk factors for Bruker.
10x Genomics, despite its victories in court, is facing decreasing revenue. 10x Genomics reported $172.9 million in revenue for the second quarter of 2025. However, that figure includes “an upfront payment of $68,000,000 that we allocated to both operating expenses and license and royalty revenue,” said CEO Serge Saxonov on the company’s second quarter earnings conference call. Excluding the payment, the core revenue was approximately $146 million. The company expects third-quarter revenue to be approximately $140 million, according to the report.
“10x Genomics faced challenges, resulting in a decline of approximately -1.3% in revenue growth as of 30 September, 2024. As compared to competitors, the company encountered difficulties, with a growth rate lower than the average among peers in the Health Care sector,” Benzinga Insights reported.
10x Genomics’ core customers are academic institutions facing funding cuts and biotech startups dealing with a slowdown in grants. Shrinking budgets may be causing customers to put off buying expensive equipment like 10x Genomics’ platforms. In addition, the multi-year legal battles were likely costly.
Bruker’s more favorable results could be attributed to its wider range of products. The spatial biology segment is just one part of the company; it also sells a range of analytical technologies across industries. This could be why the company is reporting less of a decrease in revenue despite taking on NanoString’s liabilities.
Disease research applications
These legal battles could have a direct impact on disease research and drug discovery. Spatial proteomics has several vital applications, including oncology and neurology. Studies have used spatial proteomics to reveal tumor-immune niches in breast cancer. The method has also allowed scientists to link specific cellular neighborhoods with improved cancer survival rates and immunotherapy outcomes.
Beyond oncology, spatial proteomics has been used to map cellular states and niches in normal and diseased brains, including those of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological disorders, to provide a better understanding of how AD tissue differs from healthy tissue.
These disease areas are some of the best funded and most studied, but still, cures have not been found. Spatial proteomics could be a stepping stone towards that future.
What is spatial proteomics?
Spatial proteomics identifies which cells and which proteins co-localize, revealing tumor-immune niches and other structures relevant to the prognosis and therapy response. Studies in spatial proteomics have linked specific cellular neighborhoods with improved cancer survival rates and immunotherapy outcomes.
Beyond oncology, spatial proteomics has been used to map cellular states and niches in normal and diseased brains, including those of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological disorders, to provide a better understanding of how AD tissue differs from healthy tissue.
Spatial proteomics is an umbrella term for multiple techniques that generate images of specimens, such as tissue and organ slices, to analyze their protein composition and spatial organization. Researchers use these methods to gain a better understanding of disease pathogenesis, advance diagnostic methods and identify potential therapeutic targets.
