Product: Agilent SLIMS ("smart" LIMS), a combined LIMS, ELN, and laboratory execution system (LES). Formerly Genohm SLIMS. Vendor: Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: A), 5301 Stevens Creek Blvd., Santa Clara, CA 95051. Acquired with Genohm (Lausanne) in 2018. Category: LIMS and lab execution software for pharma QC, biobanks, NGS, analytical, cannabis, and PFAS labs. Not an MES, CDS, or QMS. Verification date: 2026-10-02. Scope: Public web sources only.

1. Overview

Agilent SLIMS is a combined LIMS, ELN, and lab execution system that Agilent bought with Genohm in 2018, built for biobanks and NGS labs and now pitched to pharma QC through stability studies and a direct OpenLab CDS handoff. Its best-documented public buyer is the UK Health Security Agency, which runs it as a critical dependency in its genome-sequencing labs.

Agilent says SLIMS "combines the best of a LIMS and an ELN in a single Laboratory execution system (LES)." It tracks each sample from reception, storage, and processing through results, and runs in a web browser on a computer or tablet. (Agilent SLIMS explore page.) Agilent targets pharmaceutical labs that need compliance controls, biobanks, NGS labs, analytical labs, cannabis testing, and PFAS testing. At acquisition, SLIMS served biobanks, research labs, and NGS facilities. (EPFL-hosted announcement PDF, 2 May 2018.) Agilent says labs in more than 20 countries use it.

In one application, a lab tracks samples and locations, executes protocols, integrates instruments, keeps versioned SOPs, reviews by exception, and signs and audits records. The pharma configuration adds stability studies, a workflow module, resource and calibration control, and a chromatography handoff.

Outside SLIMS:

• OpenLab CDS is Agilent's separate chromatography data system. SLIMS sends sequences to it and takes results back. At acquisition, Agilent's John Sadler said SLIMS's architecture is "aligned with" OpenLab. (Pharma page.)
• iLab and the Alissa Platform (including Alissa Interpret) are separate Agilent products SLIMS connects to. (NGS page.)
• MES, ERP, QMS, and billing are external; SAP and billing systems are named integration examples.

2. Company and product identity

Point	Fact	Source
Name	"Smart" LIMS: SLIMS. Agilent defines an LES as LIMS plus ELN.	Explore page
Genohm origins	Founded in Ghent, Belgium, in 2002 as a two-person bioinformatics shop; an EPFL start-up at Innovation Park, Lausanne, from 2011. Founder and CEO Frederik Decouttere.	2 May 2018 release
Genohm at acquisition	SLIMS was its main lab automation suite, a LIMS and ELN tracking samples, tests, users, results, and workflows from material shipment through instrument results and analysis pipelines, with an app marketplace of preconfigured workflows. Offices in Lausanne, Ghent, and Durham, NC; 40 employees (40+ in the boilerplate); customers in Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, and the US.	2 May 2018 release
Acquisition	Definitive agreement 2 May 2018; completed 14 May 2018. Terms undisclosed. Agilent bought LIMS and workflow management and broader ELN capability to give its analytical data more context. Sadler was VP and GM of Software and Informatics; Kamni Vijay, VP and GM of Genomics, tied the deal to NGS workflows.	EPFL PDF; Investor release
Seller today	Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara. In the UK: Agilent Technologies Lda UK Limited.	Pharma page; UK notices

3. Pharma and biotech relevance

Agilent pitches SLIMS to QC labs as "not just another LIMS": it covers bench execution as well as sample tracking, and can sit beside an existing LIMS or replace it. The pharma page names review by exception, signatures, an audit trail, stability studies, and instrument and material checks so only approved instruments and in-date materials are used. (Pharma page.)

• Part 11, Annex 11, GAMP 5. SLIMS "provides the technical controls" to acquire, process, report, and store data under FDA 21 CFR Part 11, EU Annex 11, GAMP 5, ISO/IEC 17025, and EPA 40 CFR Part 160. Agilent's Part 11 / Annex 11 white paper for SLIMS is part number 5994-5125EN; a search extract of it says Agilent develops and tests SLIMS under ISO 9001:2015, performs IQ/OQ, and leaves PQ and system validation to the customer. (Explore page.)
• Clinical NGS. Agilent says the audit history "helps you meet your 21 CFR part 11 compliance obligations" and can "streamline compliance with HIPAA, CLIA, CAP and more." (NGS page.)
• Biobanking. SLIMS supports ISO 20387:2018, ISBER recommendations, and SPREC nomenclature, with chain of custody, consent, and freezer and EMR integration. (Biobank page.)
• Pharma QC workflows. Stability studies (storage conditions, packaging, timepoints, specifications, trending); a workflow module that chains step outputs into later tests; barcode design; versioned SOPs; and a six-step OpenLab CDS sequence handoff. A "Biopharma QC Digital Transformation" application note and a pharma brochure are gated.

FDA's site search could not be queried on 2 Oct 2026, and web searches that day found no FDA or EMA record naming SLIMS or Genohm.

4. Capabilities

Capability	Type	What Agilent documents	Source
Sample tracking	Native	Reception, storage, and processing through results; location, assignment, aliquoting, mixing, barcodes.	Explore page
LIMS + ELN + LES	Native	Sample-centric LIMS and workflow-driven ELN in one system.	Explore FAQ; pharma page
Protocol execution	Native	Step guidance, review by exception, signatures, audit trail, reports.	Explore FAQ; pharma page
Stability	Module	"Stability Module": temperature, humidity, photolysis, packaging, timepoints, specifications, pull plans, trending.	Pharma page
Workflow module	Module	One step's output feeds the next (one preparation used for both a pH test and an HPLC test); live view of who is on which task.	Pharma page
SLIMS Store	Content packages	Sample types, locations, metadata, automation snippets, premade configurations. NGS index sets for Agilent SureSelect, Illumina Nextera XT, BGI, and 10x Genomics, plus Excel upload of custom sets. A default SureSelect XT on NovaSeq workflow deploys "in minutes."	Explore, pharma, NGS pages
Instrument integration	Native	Results captured without retyping. Named: OpenLab CDS, TapeStation (automatic), Illumina BaseSpace, EMR plugins.	Pharma, biobank, NGS pages
OpenLab CDS handoff	Native	Client request; sequence built in SLIMS; sent to the CDS; processed in OpenLab CDS Data Analysis; results returned without retyping; approved report to the client. Agilent also says SLIMS "can interface with any" CDS.	Pharma page
Resources and calibration	Native	Reagents, locations, calibration, maintenance; use restricted to approved instruments and valid chemicals.	Pharma page
Biobank operations	Native	Studies, subject registration, visits, collection events, chain of custody, configurable annotations, longitudinal timepoints, consent.	Biobank page
API	Native	"APIs, which allow communication with third-party tools"; "Use the SLIMS API to connect" to the customer's pipeline.	Explore page; NGS page
Services	Service	Installation, verification, configuration with the customer, validation, and training of designated users to make later changes.	Explore, pharma, biobank, NGS pages

Agilent publishes no version number, database, browser list, or data-residency region.

5. Architecture and deployment

Three options: on-premises, cloud hosted by Agilent, or cloud hosted by the customer ("your favorite cloud service provider"). SaaS is supported. Deployment is "quick and 100% remote." The browser client means no client-software maintenance cost. (Explore page.) Genohm already offered on-premises and cloud versions in 2018. The architecture "scales" for data-intensive, multi-site labs across time zones. (NGS page.)

6. Integrations

Interface	What Agilent documents
OpenLab CDS	"Automated, secure, and easy to implement." Sequence tables go to the CDS and results return to the test protocol; instruments can be set as required or next-available.
Any CDS	"SLIMS can interface with any chromatography data system (CDS)."
TapeStation	Automatic connection; results flow into SLIMS.
NGS	Illumina BaseSpace core workflows; SureSelect, Nextera, BGI, and 10x index sets.
Alissa Interpret	Integrated in the NGS pipeline.
iLab	Named integration.
EMR and freezers	"Integration with freezer management systems, instruments, and hospital EMR systems"; EMR plugins. No EMR vendor named.
SAP, billing, identity	"Many business packages (such as identify management software, SAP, or billing systems)."
API	Open API to third-party tools and pipelines. A third-party catalog (APIs.io) says the SLIMS REST API comes with a SLIMS license.

7. Pricing and commercial model

Pricing is quote-only. Agilent publishes no SLIMS list price. Its FAQ says cost depends on number of users, functions needed, deployment method, and access, and argues for lower running cost: no client maintenance, SaaS support, Store configurations that shorten implementation, and trained users who handle routine changes without buying services. (Explore FAQ.)

UK contract terms describe the model: annual license subscriptions paid upfront per one-year period (a three-year subscription billed as three invoices), added user licenses priced at the contracted rate for the period, and services billed after delivery on time and materials under a quote and a "SLIMS Supplementary Terms & Conditions / SLIMS Cloud Software Master Agreement."

Agilent's GSA schedule GS-07F-0564X (1 June 2011 to 31 May 2026; SINs 334516 and 532490L on the cover, 531490L in the SIN table) does not list SLIMS. (GSA PDF.) No U.S. federal SLIMS award is cited.

Public contract records

Notice	Buyer	Supplier	Scope	Value
Contracts Finder; Sell2Wales "PHE - ICT - Agilent LIMS for Colindale (Genome) STA" (cites Contracts Finder 31682)	Public Health England	AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES LDA UK LIMITED	"Implementation and licensing of Agilent SLIMS (lab information system) for genome sequencing"; awarded 20 May 2021, contract 21 May to 30 September 2021	£184,000 (VAT treatment not stated)
Contracts Finder; Find a Tender 2025/S 000-043798 (ocid ocds-h6vhtk-0567eb, published 29 July 2025)	UK Health Security Agency (Secretary of State for Health and Social Care)	Agilent Technologies Lda UK Limited	"Agilent SLIMS 2025-2026 Licenses Renewal," 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026; S-LIMS is a critical dependency for UKHSA sequencing labs	£69,315.24 excluding VAT; £83,178.29 including VAT

Questions a buyer should ask

1. What is the license metric: named user, concurrent user, site, instrument, or module? Does the UK three-year subscription structure still apply?
2. What does the subscription cover, and what is time-and-materials (installation, configuration, validation, integration)?
3. Which environments (production, validation, training) are included?
4. Agilent cloud, customer cloud, or on-prem: who holds the data, and is each a different SKU?
5. Are OpenLab CDS, TapeStation, Alissa, and BaseSpace links included or separately licensed?
6. What does "100% remote" deployment require from the customer?
7. Is 5994-5125EN the Part 11 package, and is IQ/OQ a paid service?
8. Which Store packages (NGS, stability) are in the license?
9. Can users be added mid-term at the contracted price?
10. If SLIMS runs beside an existing LIMS, how are the two systems' scopes split?

8. Implementation and validation support

Agilent installs SLIMS, verifies it "performs exactly as designed," configures it with the customer, and trains designated users to make later changes. There is no "big bang" cutover; the lab sets the pace. Store packages accelerate setup, and routine maintenance should not take "days of professional services." Validation is part of the engineering support. (Pharma page; Explore FAQ.) Per the white-paper extract, Agilent does IQ/OQ and the customer does PQ. No validation plan template or GAMP category is published, and Agilent's general computer-system-validation services do not name SLIMS.

doTERRA "saved over 50 hours a week by replacing paper workflows with SLIMS" (Agilent teaser; case study 5994-8360EN). (Explore page.)

9. Customer evidence

Account	Evidence	Limit
UK Health Security Agency / Public Health England	£184,000 implementation and licensing for genome sequencing (2021); £69,315.24 renewal for 2025-26; SLIMS described as a critical dependency.	Public procurement record.
doTERRA	Saved over 50 hours a week replacing paper workflows.	Vendor teaser.
FlyORF	Unattributed biobank-page quote: SLIMS handles internal and external orders, strain-collection browsing, sample management, and billing in one system.	No person or year.
Unnamed hospital	SLIMS tracks samples across hospitals, links subjects, samples, protocols, and results; ELN tracks sequencing runs.	Unnamed.
Unnamed biobank cohort	SLIMS "selected to manage our biobank and cohort," with cross-institution access and data protection.	Unnamed.
Unnamed reagent and animal lab	Reagents, antibodies, and mice in one system.	Unnamed.
Other explore-page quotes	SLIMS as the "keystone" of operations (equipment integration, SOP repository); ELN "indispensable" for a biobank.	Unnamed.

10. Competitive and third-party context

No Gartner, Forrester, IDC, or LNS evaluation of SLIMS is cited, and no trade-press or ISPE article names a SLIMS site. Within Agilent's own stack, SLIMS is the sample and lab-execution layer and OpenLab CDS is the chromatography system it hands work to.

11. Changes and renames

• 2002: Genohm founded in Ghent. 2011: moves to EPFL Innovation Park, Lausanne.
• 2018-05-02: Agilent agrees to buy Genohm. 2018-05-14: deal completes. Genohm SLIMS becomes Agilent SLIMS.
• 2021: Public Health England buys SLIMS for genome sequencing.
• 2025: Agilent markets SLIMS as LIMS + ELN + LES with three deployment models, pharma stability, the OpenLab CDS handoff, NGS Store content, and ISO 20387 biobank support. UKHSA renews licenses for 2025-26.

12. Source library

Pages retrieved 2026-10-02. Full URL list: sources note. Every claim above is in the product's evidence set with its source, type, and confidence.

Primary pages:

• https://explore.agilent.com/AgilentSLIMS
• https://explore.agilent.com/agilentslims-pharma
• https://explore.agilent.com/agilentslims-biobanks
• https://explore.agilent.com/agilentslims-ngs
• https://documents.epfl.ch/groups/e/ep/epflmedia/www/20180502_Genohm/Final%20Press%20Release%20Genohm%20Acquisition.pdf
• https://www.investor.agilent.com/news-and-events/news/news-details/2018/Agilent-Completes-Acquisition-of-Genohm/default.aspx
• https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/8173e439-410b-477f-a141-8d61525a6514
• https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/76ce71f5-6fff-43ae-908c-564defb71342
• https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/043798-2025