Sterilization Technologies Advancing in the 21

Report Highlights

• U.S. sales of capital equipment to the sterilization industry should reach $905.2 million in 2005 and $1.1 billion in 2010, rising at an average annual growth rate (AAGR) of 4.2%.
• The trends of value-added manufacturing and shorter hospital stays combined are holding capital equipment costs down and are leading to the use of more disposable than reusable items.
• This trend toward disposables spells success for filtration sterilization, where sales of sterilizing filters for liquids and gases will rise at an AAGR of 5.9% to $603.5 million in 2010.
• Heat sterilization technologies are the tried-and-true methods and purchases will rise to $505.3 million in 2010.

INTRODUCTION

Various market forces shape demand for sterilization, an unrecognized element in a vast number of industries and manufacturing processes. The delivery of sterile products has created the need for effective, rapid and economical technologies that ensure safety throughout the production process and expand market opportunities. This updated BCC technical market study, explores changes and directions the field is projected to take over the next five years.

This study describes and discusses changes in the U.S. sterilization industry since BCC last looked at it in 2000. Products and services provided by the industry have greatly increased in demand as a result of worldwide growth in commercial applications of infection control. It further delineates trends and developments for each type of sterilization technology and how each is meant to satisfy manufacturer's needs.

The report pays particular attention to regulatory forces that create certain programs for specific industries, such as Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), to suggest market size for the technologies and pinpoint target applications. It examines the most-active suppliers and explores the various ways they respond to market demands.

SCOPE OF STUDY

The report contains:

• Examination of the trends and developments for each type of sterilization technology and how each is meant to satisfy the needs of manufacturers
• Analysis of the market with forecasts to 2010 for testing systems for heat, chemical, filter, radiation and emerging sterilization technologies
• Examination of the forces driving the market, with particular attention paid to regulatory actions that create certain programs for specific industries to suggest market size for the technologies and pinpoint target applications
• Analysis of the sterilization in terms of the types of companies that are the mostactive suppliers, and the various ways they respond to market demands.

METHODOLOGY AND INFORMATION SOURCES

The methodology employed to obtain the data found in Sterilization Technologies-Advancing into the 21^stCentury comes from extensive telephone interviews with key executives of the leading U.S. companies involved in sterilization. The expert and reasoned comments of these sources, combined with information gleaned from trade journals, patents, company reports, press releases, product literature, and government documents germane to food testing, provide the basis for the contents of this report. Where precise information was not available, a consensus was made using a formulation of reasonable assumptions and estimates based on historical data.

ANALYST CREDENTIALS

The author of this report, Norma Corbitt, has 19 years of experience as a BCC editor and project analyst. Ms. Corbitt has written several other BCC reports, including Engineered and Staple Soy-Containing Foods, Separations in Biotechnology, Advanced Drug Delivery Systems and Advanced Inorganic Membranes. She is the editor of BCC's monthly newsletter, Food Ingredient News, and the past editor of two others, Flame Retardancy News and Waste Technology News. She has also served as an assistant editor on Analytic Separations News, Membrane & Separations Technology News, and Battery and EV Technology News.