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U.S. Clinical Chemistry and Immunoassay Reagents Markets
Frost & Sullivan, Feb 2004
Smaller Reagent Manufacturers Find New Solutions to Match Larger Manufacturers’ Advantage of Holding Reagent Rental Contracts
Clinical laboratories enthusiasm for solutions that can help reduce huge initial outlays on new instruments is fostering the culture of reagent rental contracts. Through such contracts, an instrument manufacturer rents out analyzers to hospitals or laboratories in exchange for orders for reagents. This method proved to be so popular that it accounted for nearly 75 to 85 percent of all revenue generated within the clinical chemistry and immunoassay reagents market in 2003. However, it also cut out smaller suppliers from the market. These smaller suppliers have been trying to create niche markets by targeting physicians offices and regional reference laboratories. To cater to the lower demand volumes of such sectors, these suppliers have been offering reagents in lower volume packs and using analogs that allow for increased stability of reagents.
This research examines the U.S. Clinical Chemistry and Immunoassay Reagents Markets and discusses the various market trends and opportunities for the reagents. The research segments the market into that for clinical chemistry and immunoassay reagents. It offers revenue forecasts as well as key drivers and restraints affecting market growth.
Advances in Point-of-Care and Combinatorial Testing Spur Market Growth
The quickness of point-of-care (POC) test results has popularized its use among the medical community, boosting demand for new, lower volume analyzers to conduct these tests. The need for more instruments is, in turn, driving sales of additional reagents. Some of these reagents come in the form of higher margin reagent disks or packs, further enhancing revenue. Continued developments such as increasing tests menus while decreasing the size of the analyzers footprints are likely to further increase uptake of POC testing, and consequently, that of reagents.
The clinical chemistry and immunoassay reagents market is also capitalizing on the advances made in diagnostics. Although new tests provide more information on medical conditions, many laboratories and hospitals prefer to use a combination of old and new technologies for obtaining a complete picture. For instance, in cardiology, specific myoglobin and troponin tests are conducted in addition to the regular creatine kinase-MB. These practices augment test volumes and reagent revenues, says the analyst.
Market Growth Expected to Be Mainly Volume Driven
In the total market, clinical chemistry dominates in terms of unit volume with approximately 87.9 percent, while immunoassay reagents lead in revenue with about 67.8 percent share. This is ample evidence of the ‘commodity status’ of most clinical chemistry tests and the growth opportunities for higher margin immunoassay techniques. In future, the markets for both clinical chemistry and immunoassay reagents are expected to be driven by volume demand, especially from an ever-increasing aging population.
The educated patient group is becoming more aware of the availability of various treatment options and is proactively requesting tests, notes the analyst. This is bolstering the unit sales of reagents, especially high-end ones, since patients have been asking for the latest tests for both early diagnosis as well as more comprehensive disease management. Unexpected epidemiological outbreaks such as SARS are also likely to sporadically increase demand for reagents and drive volume and revenue.
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