Flow Cytometry Expanding into Clinical, Research Fields; High Product Costs an Issue

May 12, 2016

Wellesley, Mass., May 12, 2016 – Increasing research and commercialization in life science fields such as proteomics, genomics, pharmacogenomics and stem cell research have created big demand for high-throughput technologies like flow cytometry. BCC Research reveals in its new report that the global flow cytometry market is poised to undergo significant changes over the next five years.

Flow cytometry is a laser-based, biophysical technology employed in cell counting, sorting, biomarker detection and protein engineering. Cells are suspended in a stream of fluid and passed by an electronic detection apparatus. This allows simultaneous multiparametric analysis of the physical and/or chemical characteristics of up to thousands of particles per second.

The global market for flow cytometry should reach over $6.3 billion by 2020, up from nearly $4.1 billion in 2015, reflecting a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.1%. The instruments segment, which accounted for the largest share at almost $2.1 billion in 2015, should increase at a five-year CAGR of 7.3% to reach almost $3 billion in 2020. Reagents as a segment should grow the fastest with a five-year CAGR of 11.9%.

Global demand is high for small-sized, robust and high-throughput flow cytometers. Market drivers include imminent developments in immunology, biochemistry, microbiology, cytogenetics, chemical engineering, agronomy, molecular biology and cytology applications. Innovations in stem cell research, monoclonal antibodies, marine biology, computer science, electronics and fluorochrome chemistry should key movement, as well.

Market consolidation is one trend that should continue during the forecast period as players strengthen or retain their position. This development has produced stronger, vertically integrated competitors that are better able to compete as sole-source vendors to end users. 

New molecular diagnostic and monoclonal antibody tests will facilitate existing procedures and provide the basis for sensitive, specific and simple assays. The introduction of small and easy-to-use laser systems will further expand applications of flow cytometry to daily clinical laboratories. Finally, advances in IT will reduce the cost of instrument manufacture and service warranty and will permit the development of various advanced features.

“The expansion of flow cytometry applications from cellular analysis to molecular and genomic analysis, increasing R&D spending, and a shift in small-molecule drug discovery will grow the market,” says BCC Research analyst John Richard Rahn. “However, the high cost of equipment will constrain growth. In 2016, a private company focused on the goal of commercializing COST coding in flow cytometric sorting is planning to release a compact cell sorter priced under $100,000. Should this technology, a disposable cell sorting chip capable of three-way sorting, prove commercially viable, its adoption will greatly reduce the size and cost of flow cytometry instrumentation.”

Flow Cytometry: Products, Technologies and Global Markets (BIO085C) analyzes the industry by segments such as instruments, reagents, software, services, technologies, applications, and end users, technology, by type, and by end-user application. The report examines emerging applications, trends, pricing considerations, R&D, government regulations, and competitive technologies. Analyses of global market drivers and trends, with data from 2014, 2015, and projections of CAGRs through 2020 also are provided.

Editors and reporters who wish to speak with the analyst should contact Steven Cumming at steven.cumming@bccresearch.com.

Flow Cytometry: Products, Technologies and Global Markets( BIO085C )
Publish Date: May 2016    

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