Increasing prevalence of chronic and infectious disease around the globe is boosting adoption of molecular diagnostics

 

Molecular diagnostics covers all areas of laboratory testing and analysis. It begins with a broad overview of genetic and cellular mechanisms, then covers molecular methods used for DNA analysis, protein analysis, metabolite measurement, and microarray analysis. This technique helps to identify and analyze nucleic acids or proteins at a molecular level. Moreover, molecular diagnostics analyze the genetic makeup of an individual to diagnose a particular disease.

Growing prevalence of infectious disease is predominantly propelling the market growth of molecular diagnostics. According to the World Health Organization, infectious diseases kill over 17 million people a year. At least 30 new diseases have emerged in the last 20 years and now together threaten the health of hundreds of millions of people.  Also, advancement in molecular diagnostics and the rise in funding by government and other organizations for conducting R&D in molecular diagnostics is further anticipated to foster the market growth over the forecast period.

North America is expected to gain significant growth over the forecast period and this is attributed to the presence of well-established diagnostic infrastructure coupled with the high prevalence of chronic disease which is driving the need for an advanced diagnostic tool. According to the National Health Council, chronic diseases affect approximately 133 million Americans, representing more than 40% of the total population of this country. By 2020, that number is projected to grow to an estimated 157 million, with 81 million having multiple conditions.

Key Developments:

1.      In April 2018, Altona Diagnostics GmbH, a diagnostic company announced the launch of the recently developed and CE-IVD marked AltoStar® Molecular Diagnostic Workflow. This flexible and efficient system automates the entire workflow from sample preparation to analysis.

2.      In August 2020, OpGen, Inc., a precision medicine company has announced that its subsidiary Curetis GmbH has obtained the CE mark certification in the European Union for its own SARS-CoV-2 Kit with PULB for the detection of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

3.      In July 2020, Mylab Discovery Solutions has launched ‘Compact XL’ - India’s first fully-automated Sample-to-PCR-ready system for molecular diagnostics.

4.      In May 2019, Abbott announced the CE Mark for its Alinity™ m diagnostics system and assays. This new technology help in meeting the growing demand for infectious disease testing.

5.      In October 2018, BD (Becton, Dickinson, and Company), a global medical technology company, announced the launch of the BD MAX MDR-TB panel in Europe for detecting bacteria that cause tuberculosis (TB)