Cell-based assays market to reach $6.26bn in 2018 according to new analysis

Friday 9 May 2014, Amsterdam

A new report predicts the world market for cell-based assays will reach $6.26 billion in 2018. That revenue forecast and others appear in Cell-Based Assays: World Industry and Market Prospects 2014-2024, published in March 2014.

The new report forecasts the cell-based assays market will experience high revenue growth from 2014 to 2024. Expansion of that market will be stimulated by the high demands of drug development. Advances in cell assaying to include enhanced screening technologies, automation and non-invasive monitoring will further expand that market. Also, high-throughput processing of samples can lower sample processing costs, helping the pharmaceutical industry achieve R&D efficiencies.

Dr Bijal Thanki, a healthcare industry analyst, said: “The cost of developing a new drug is estimated at $1.5bn. Over half of those costs occur in clinical trials, with failures there proving damaging. So cell-based assays help in the early developmental stages for minimising late-stage drug failures. Advances in miniaturising and multiplexing cell-based assays make drug discovery more efficient and cheaper, and 3D systems and stem cell-based assays make them more biologically relevant.

“High-content screening technologies have risen in popularity as drug discovery tools, and are now an established detection method in cell-based assays. Improvements in recent years involving the sensitivity of detection equipment allow more-precise testing. We believe cell assay use will continue to expand, mainly driven by the introduction of higher resolution imaging and improved data management systems.

“However, the rising costs of pharma R&D and the complexities of medical developments make it more challenging for many companies to conduct drug discovery in-house. So we predict more pharma companies will outsource early-stage R&D to specialists in that field, such as contract research organisations (CROs) and niche biotech companies.

“And pharmaceutical companies outsourcing to pharmerging companies, such as China and India, also have the advantage of lower labour costs. Though developed countries look for cost-reducing approaches to drug discovery, the pharmerging countries can expect to flourish with foreign investments. Therefore, these developing countries can experience strong growth for cell assay use during our forecast period, 2014 to 2024.

“Our study finds the cell-based assays industry advances towards breakthroughs that will change drug discovery and development operations. And revenues from cell assays will grow strongly to 2024, with technological advances pushing that market.”

The new report gives sales forecasts to 2024 at overall world market, submarket and national level. It forecasts worldwide revenues for the following segments:

• Cell-based assay products, including equipment, consumables and disposables
• Cell-based assaying services – outsourcing
• Applications – drug discovery, ADME-toxicity screening and basic research.

That investigation also predicts pharmaceutical R&D spending, including that for cell-based assays for pre-clinical development.

And the study discusses R&D and commercial developments, shows research interviews and predicts revenues to 2024 in leading national markets. That work analyses the US, Japan, Germany, France, the UK, Spain, Italy (EU5), Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC countries). It gives 51 tables, 48 charts and three interviews with authorities in that industry.