Lab-on-chip and microfluidics to see double-digit growth over next seven years

Microfluidics and lab-on-chip provide striking opportunities for advancing biomedical research and creating new markets for the medical sciences industry, says Frost & Sullivan.

The European lab-on-chip and microfluidics market earned revenues of about US$666.3m in 2008 and F&S estimates this will increase to about US$1.62bn by 2015. The main applications will be in genomics, proteomics, cell-based assays and clinical diagnostics.

According to F&S's European Lab-on-chip and Microfluidics Market report, the benefits of microfluidics for pharmaceutical manufacturers include improved data quality, economical reagent consumption and cost reduction, and acceleration of drug discovery processes. These advantages will ultimately shorten the time-to-market of a drug, says F&S senior research analyst Rasika Ramachandran.

Although F&S expects the lab-on-chip and microfluidics market for life sciences applications to experience double-digit growth cumulatively over the next seven years, due to the global recession, this is unlikely to happen in the next two years.

"Revenues from new placements will be slim in the coming year or two due to budget cutbacks by the major pharmaceutical companies," adds Ramachandran. "Nevertheless, lab-on-chip companies that already have a significant installed base will continue to enjoy small but consistent revenue flows from the sale of consumables."

The market needs aggressively to address the technical challenges that are currently hampering uptake. Suppliers also need to address interoperability concerns that prevent pharmaceutical companies including lab-on-chip instruments in their existing workflows.

"Being a new technology that has to fit into an existing laboratory set up, it is essential that lab-on-chip equipment is compatible with the pre-existing robotics and automation layout of the lab," says Ramachandran. "Companies that meet these standards will achieve greater success."