POC market to surpass $16 Billion by 2010

18 December 2006

Point-of-care diagnostics market to surpass $16bn worldwide by 2010

The dominant market is the US, which is pushing technology development to reduced costs and decentralized diagnostic testing. Coupled with ongoing advances in technology this will continue to drive the global market for point-of-care diagnostics well beyond $16 billion by 2010, according to new market research from Kalorama Information.

Growth is largely related to significant increases in glucose self-testing and various professional test segments including critical care and cardiac markers, according to the findings published in the report "Worldwide Point-of-Care Testing: Are Decentralized Clinical Diagnostics a Cost Drain or Revenue Driver?"

Revenues in 2005 for combined OTC and professional applications of POC testing generated company revenues of more than $11 billion, and are expected to increase by 8% annually  a conservative estimate according to the report.

As the largest single market for IVD and POC products, the US accounting for 55% of the world market  has an enormous impact on how the rapid test industry develops. Managed care's obsession with cost reductions is pushing the need for nearer the patient and decentralized testing in the home and in physician offices.

At 35% of the market, Europe's usage of POC tests has been growing at a faster pace than the US, and opportunities are evolving in emerging markets, such as South America, Eastern Europe, and parts of Asia and Africa.

"As global technologies advance, a key to effective POC testing programs is the ability to link POC devices with centralized management stations and a healthcare system's primary information system," notes Shara Rosen, the report's author. "This connectivity challenge has mostly been met.

However, in the hospital-based setting, the correlation between POC and lab-based results is weak, and other issues are causing acceptance barriers. There appears to be consensus that across all applications faster, more sensitive, less expensive, and more user-friendly tests should help produce better market penetration."