Originally Published IVD Technology March 2002
Industry News
Proteomics market on the rise
Richard Park
Manufacturers involved in the proteomics research market may have a reliable revenue source in mass spectroscopy, but in coming years other technologies could provide opportunities for increased sales, according to one recent report.
Mass spectroscopy is by far the dominant player in the proteomics research market, representing more than 40% of the total market and revenues estimated to total $300 million in 2001, according to a report by Business Communications Company, Inc. (BCC; Norwalk, CT). The report, titled Proteomics: An Assessment of Technology and Commercial Potential, projects that revenues generated from mass spectroscopy will reach $603 million by 2006, with an average annual growth rate of 15%.
At the same time, another report has found that the entire proteomics market currently generates revenues worth $1.5 billion. The report by Technical Insights (San Antonio, TX) forecasts that the proteomics market will total $6 billion by 2005, and $10 billion by 2010.
The BCC study estimates that revenues for selected instruments and other products in the proteomics market totaled $720 million in 2001. Revenues in this market are anticipated to reach $1.7 billion by 2006, at a growth rate of 18% annually.
"Twenty years ago, protein researchers generally studied individual proteins," says the BCC report. "Today, researchers can analyze protein expression in an entire cell, and newer techniques allow scientists to isolate proteins and identify them much more quickly. The development of new technologies for studying proteins has led to rapid growth in industries supplying instruments and reagents for proteomics studies, which has in turn made a variety of products available from companies eager to compete in the new market."
The BCC report adds that the markets for protein chips and bioinformatics are also expected to show promising growth during the 5-year forecast period. For protein chips, revenues are estimated to increase from $15 million in 2001 to $114 million in 2006 at a growth rate of 50%. Revenues for bioinformatics are projected to rise at a growth rate of 54.7% from $31 million in 2001 to $275 million in 2006. During the same period, two-dimensional electrophoresis is projected to experience a slower growth rate of 11%, while capillary electrophoresis will rise at a rate of more than 15%.
Among the factors contributing to growth in the proteomics market, the BCC study points to a boom in scientific discoveries stemming from the Human Genome Project and advances in high-throughput technologies for protein studies. Increases in government funding for research and continued increased interest in drug discovery in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries will also contribute to growth, according to the study.
"Factors influencing the growth of the market include the continuing investment of national governments into technology-based companies and technology-based not-for-profit research, the push by big pharmaceutical companies to fill their blockbust-er pipelines, and efforts by small biotechnology companies to become bigger companies," says the BCC report. "As all of these groups continue their efforts, they will in turn drive the development of new instruments and new technologies."
For more information about the BCC report, contact BCC at 203/853-4266 or via e-mail at publisher@bccresearch.com. For more information about the Technical Insights report, contact Julia Rowell at 210/247-3870 or via e-mail at jrowell@frost.com.
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