The much-lauded real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) detection method has the potential to revolutionise the sample analysis arena, according to a new report
The market for real-time thermal cyclers simmers with robust growth expectations across the US and Europe.
While traditional thermal cycling systems are at an advanced stage of maturity, the market for real-time thermal cyclers thrives in the early phases of the product life cycle, displaying enormous scope for expansion and diversification.
Boasting a broad spectrum of applications and advantages over traditional PCR technology, the much-lauded real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) detection method has the potential to revolutionise the sample analysis arena.
Having notched up sales worth $252 million in 2001, the US and European market for real-time thermal cyclers is set to fetch combined revenues of $776 million by 2006.
A new study by Frost and Sullivan (http://biotech.frost.com), the international marketing consulting company, believes that further inroads into real-time PCR systems will result in higher throughput capabilities and increased automation, enhancing the cost-effectiveness of run cycles performed.
Product development is also likely to result in a greater variety of add-on products, improved multiplexing capability and a growing number of applications involving real-time fluorescent detection of samples.
Real-time thermal cyclers are increasingly attracting new end-users in sectors as multi-faceted as agrofood, petrochemicals and fishing industries, as well as cornering an important share of the massive global clinical diagnostics market.
Demand in the diagnostics industry has also escalated with the advent of real-time thermal cyclers which deliver improved accuracy, specificity and reproducibility.
Annabel Entress, Research Analyst at Frost and Sullivan, comments: "Deemed unreliable by the discerning customer base in the clinical diagnostics sector, traditional PCR methods struggled to penetrate this sector." "However," she remarks, "despite being characterised by a slew of competitors exiting the market, plummeting prices and increasing market saturation, opportunities continue to exist in the traditional thermal cycler market.
Industry observers concede that their use is unlikely to be replaced fully in many labs due to their lower costs and adequacy for basic gene analysis studies." The rising popularity of microarrays in the US and European life science market acts as a complementary driver for real-time thermal cyclers, for example in the validation of microarray results using real-time PCR.
The bright growth prospects in the microarray market and its application in conjunction with real-time thermal cyclers will prompt sales of real-time thermal cycling instrumentation.
Ms Entress notes that real time-instruments are likely to be targeted towards an even greater number of applications, and is confident that increasingly sophisticated PCR software packages will further augment the value of these instruments.
"During our research, end-users highlighted the crucial importance of a robust software package for the molecular biologist and an effective support system for the real-time instruments in determining purchase choice.
Furthermore, software packages can ease prime and probe design and analysis, so this feature should not be neglected when developing the costly instrumentation," she comments.
Having gained the vital early market share, the large life science instrumentation manufacturers dominant in the traditional thermal cycler market also typify the competitive landscape of the real-time thermal cycler market.
"Applied Biosystems (ABI) and Roche are the clear market leaders throughout the US and Europe, followed by Bio-Rad.
These top three market positions are held by those companies first on the market, reaffirming the importance of early entry level to gain client base, from which repeat buys and selling of associated products and consumables are likely," Ms Entress says.
Meanwhile, some smaller companies with innovative product portfolios and successful marketing campaigns to develop quality technology and introduce it to an end-user base at an early stage of market evolution, are cementing their growing prominence in the market.
These include players such as Techne UK, Brinkmann Eppendorf and MJ Research, amongst others. Smaller companies successfully clinching market share in this sector include Corbett Research and Cepheid.
The competitive situation is likely to intensify as new products come out of development this year.
The study reiterates the importance of early market entry - the key to building loyalty and customer relations between the company and the end-user.
Tightening competitive forces and decreasing prices are set to make market conditions more difficult over the next two years.
It is likely that some products will find their use in more niche areas which are less competitive than the mainstream diagnostics and research field, the study concludes.
