TRENDS & PERSPECTIVES
According to a new report released by Kalorama Information (New York City), “Glucose Monitoring Markets,” the global glucose testing market is estimated to have reached $9 billion in 2007 and is expected to generate $11.36 billion in revenues by 2012. (This market includes professional glucose testing and glucose self-testing.) The World Health Organization (WHO; Geneva) estimates that the number of diagnosed diabetes cases worldwide will be 210-230 million by 2010. The market potential for glucose testing devices is considerable.
Total sales in the professional glucose testing market are projected to be $1.4 billion for 2007. During the next five years, this market is anticipated to show modest growth and reach $1.5 billion by 2012. The shortening of patients’ hospital stays and the increase in ambulatory services have limited the demand for bedside, point-of-care glucose testing. However, a growing demand for continuous glucose testing for critical care in intensive-care units has emerged.
Also, while many noninvasive glucose monitoring devices primarily target self-testing consumers, many continuous testing products can be adapted for critical-care purposes. For example, companies such as Arkray (Kyoto, Japan), GlucoLight Corp. (Bethlehem, PA), and Luminous Medical Inc. (Carlsbad, CA) are developing their devices for critical-care venues.
The glucose self-testing market is more dynamic than its professional counterpart and will continue to expand due to demographic factors. Such factors including the aging of the population in developed countries, the new criteria for diagnosing diabetes that emphasizes lower glucose thresholds, and the expansion of monitoring technologies in emerging markets will contribute to a growing self-testing market.
The worldwide glucose self-testing market is estimated to have reached $7.65 billion in 2007. With an average annual growth rate of 5%, this market will reach $9.86 billion in 2012. This conservative projection of the self-testing market is due to pricing strategies that continue to discount the cost of meters and strips. Therefore, even though the number of strips used may increase by 10-15% per year during the next five years, the revenues generated by these sales will show a slower growth rate.
North America accounts for 50% of the sales in the glucose testing market. The top five European countries (the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy) follow with 28%, Japan 8%, and the rest of the world 14%.
Additional information about this report is available via Kalorama’s Web site at www.kaloramainformation.com.
