Mass Spectrometry Innovations Enhance Metabolomics and Proteomics
Drug development is a long and complicated process that involves several types of analytical instruments used in a variety of ways and purposes. Starting at early discovery, a targeted process occurs during drug and biomarker discovery to identify a drug candidate. These drug candidates are then tested in preclinical and clinical trials, translational research, and finally manufacturing and QA/QC. Due to the nature of drugs and their interactions, knowing how a drug works, its side effects, the method of delivery, its efficacy, consistency in manufacturing, and more all must be tested using precise methods and accurate data. The instruments covered in this report are the primary sources of that data and form the critical infrastructure for pharmaceutical and biotherapeutic compounds. Further, innovations in the instruments, software controlling them, and analysis methods will further drive new biotherapeutics and drug formulations that are key to the success of the industry.
At the heart of all drug development is the pharmaceutical, biotech, and biopharmaceutical companies. They account for the majority of demand for these instruments, as they are the main commercial benefactors of biotherapeutics. These companies will often utilize contract research organizations and public sector organizations such as those in academia, the government, and research institutions to assist in the R&D process. Together and in conjunction with a regulatory framework, this network alongside instrument suppliers forms a fast growing marketplace that has only been further helped by steady government investment. Future growth in the pharma/bio marketplace will be driven by new therapeutic modalities that are more specific to a certain disease, delivered in better ways, with faster research and production timelines, and an increased reliance on personalization to patients. The resulting price tag and need for specific capital and infrastructure will further rely on high throughput screening, automation, and reliance on CROs and CMOs that provide expertise and scale up resources.
Lab Instrumentation Markets for Pharmaceuticals and Biopharmaceuticals is an in-depth examination of the major technologies used in the pharma/bio sector, encompassing 50 technologies in 9 categories. The report examines historical growth and provides forecasts for demand over the next five years. This report focuses on delivering insights into phases of discovery, therapeutic focus, and the challenges being faced in therapeutic development.
Top Vendors include:
- Bruker
- Danaher
- Illumina
- MilliporeSigma
- Perkin Elmer
- QIAGEN
- Sartorius
- Tecan
- Thermo Fisher
- Waters
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
The current pharma/bio market is a rapidly growing, high innovation market that has maintained exceptional growth over the past several years. Of the many technologies that have benefited from its rapid expansion, mass spectrometry has been at the forefront. The adoption of mass spectrometers has been particularly swift in proteomics and metabolomics applications. There are a number of reasons for this rise in demand that centers around a few convergent events that have culminated in the current market conditions and portend future market growth.
The move from DDA to DIA
Mass spectrometry systems are powerful tools for identifying biomarkers and discovering potential drug targets. Current systems can identify thousands of proteins in a single run and do those same experiments in a reproducible fashion, all the while doing so in a high throughput environment. However, this combined workflow was historically not easy to do and often not possible with old analytical methods. The nature of identifying drug targets relied on a database search for fragmented peptide ions through a data-dependent acquisition approach (DDA). This resulted in the ability to identify thousands of proteins from complex biological samples in a single experiment. However, this methodology had several drawbacks, most notably in run-to-run reproducibility and difficulty in detecting ions of low abundance. For these rare ions, targeted approaches were developed, with methods such as parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) and selection reaction monitoring (SRM) proving to be highly sensitive and reproducible. The combination of these two methods was key to creating high throughput, highly sensitive and reproducible results for protein identification. This combined process, called data independent acquisition (DIA) was a keystone point for mass spectrometry proteomic analysis. The result was a sudden rush by all major mass spectrometry suppliers to develop DIA methods for their respective product lines.
Further refinements to DIA analysis through a host of informatics tools have further fueled the innovation arms race among mass spec vendors. These include SWATH DIA used by SCIEX on their ZenoTOF systems, diaPASEF for Bruker’s timsTOF devices, q Exactive on Thermo Fisher’s Orbitrap systems, and SONAR for Waters’ Xevo GC-XS QTOF systems. Part of these improvements came on the heels of better computer hardware and analysis software that could handle the large datasets created from these experiments. Improvements in both machine learning and deep learning based methods have further added to the ability of modern software to analyze and identify protein targets from large datasets and spectral libraries.
Device Demand Now and Looking Ahead
While the technological improvements enabled the ability to better support -omics, the demand for these devices was also needed. While there has been some tail wagging the dog, the advances of other technologies for protein targeting have opened the floodgates for applied research and drug discovery. Other important drivers of demand have been the result of large government and private investments that stemmed from the COVID-19 pandemic. Billions of dollars were poured into labs both directly working on and adjacent to virus and vaccine research. This large influx of capital has helped labs and biotech companies alike invest in key technologies and instruments. The arrival of mRNA as a viable vehicle for protein production and targeting in humans has opened the door for targeted treatments. Meanwhile, the CRISPR/CAS9 technologies have enabled researchers to better understand genomic and protein interactions better than ever before and have enabled easier production of reporter gene inserts into key protein genes.
From there, technological innovations in imaging of tagged proteins, both in vivo and in vitro, have helped improve the pipeline from in vitro cell experiments to organoid and in vivo experiments for these proteins. Other pipeline changes for drug testing may make way for an increase in viable therapies to come to market. Recent legislation in the United States has allowed, for the first time, an avenue for toxicity testing that does not require in vivo animals.
Understanding the Mass Spectrometry Market
The combined results of the technological innovation in mass spectrometry devices, the software and methods behind them, associated technologies surrounding proteomics and targeted therapies, and the economic conditions surrounding the post pandemic recovery have created a perfect storm for growth in mass spectrometry and its use in -omics research.
The report: “Lab Instrumentation Markets for Pharmaceuticals and Biopharmaceuticals 2022” examines the market size, growth, and segments of the mass spectrometry market and other laboratory technologies as they relate to the pharma/bio market. In addition to market data, the report provides commentary on how these technologies are being utilized for different applications, geographical regions, and specific end markets, as well as how vendors stack up against each other in this important and competitive market.
Companies Mentioned
- Bruker
- Danaher
- Illumina
- MilliporeSigma
- Perkin Elmer
- QIAGEN
- Sartorius
- Tecan
- Thermo Fisher
- Waters
