Scientia Advisors reviews growth in POC market

Sep 15 2010

Rapid medical tests that can be analyzed in close proximity to patients in professional settings comprise the fastest growing segment of the global $37.5B in-vitro diagnostics industry, according to a new global review of the point-of-care (POC) diagnostics industry.

“Growth in the POC market is fueled in part by a trend toward decentralization of health care—in which testing and treatment are migrating from hospital labs to settings such as emergency rooms, outpatient, doctor's offices, rapid and urgent care clinics, and homes”

The review was released today by Scientia Advisors, a management consulting firm specializing in growth strategies for companies in health care and life sciences.

"Growth in the POC market is fueled in part by a trend toward decentralization of health care—in which testing and treatment are migrating from hospital labs to settings such as emergency rooms, outpatient, doctor's offices, rapid and urgent care clinics, and homes," said Harry Glorikian, Scientia Advisors' managing partner.

However, Glorikian cautioned, "companies bringing point-of-care (POC) tests to market must consider not only accuracy, reliability and ease of use, but also the challenges of gaining clinical acceptance and meeting sometimes-onerous regulatory and reimbursement requirements."

Based on primary and secondary research and proprietary analysis, Scientia projects that the POC testing market, which includes professional and over-the-counter segments, will experience compound annual growth of 8%, from $11.6B in 2008 to $18.4B through 2013 —with additional potential for growth in emerging economies.

Scientia reports that while diabetes is the largest segment of the POC testing market, infectious disease testing, a smaller segment, has high growth potential due to (1) increasing awareness of public health problems such as flu, chlamydia and hospital-acquired infections (2) potential availability of disruptive, point-of-care molecular diagnostics and (3) increased adoption of POC testing in emerging markets.

Other main findings:

• While the US is a major influencer in the global POC testing market, the developing world will experience the fastest growth—especially in China and India, where the governments plan to open thousands of rural clinics.
• The emergence of rapid clinics has contributed to POC market growth. However, in the current economic slowdown, US retail giants such as CVS and Wal-Mart have closed many clinics. As a result, rapid clinics may need new strategies, such as partnering with hospitals, to remain viable.
• Next-generation, portable, easy-to-use technologies, which promise greater accuracy, convenience and clinical impact, will fuel the growth of many POC segments.
• Stringent regulatory and reimbursement requirements and a need for pharmaco-economic studies remain barriers to widespread POC adoption in the US and abroad.

Source : Scientia Advisors