Lab-On-A-Chip and Microarrays Market

Market Overview

The Total Addressable Market (TAM) for lab-on-a-chip and microarrays (biochip) was valued at USD 15.81 billion in 2022 and is estimated to reach an expected value of USD 49.82 billion by 2031, registering a CAGR of 13.6% during the forecast period (2023-2031).

Microarrays are the most popular lab-on-a-chip technology due to their wide range of differentiation and applications. The increasing use of personal medical devices and the need for immediate results from diagnostic tests are the major factors driving the demand for microarrays in the lab-on-a-chip and microarrays market.

The key factors bolstering the lab-on-a-chip and microarrays market are the increasing demand for point-of-care testing, increasing incidences of chronic diseases, and increasing proteomics and genomics applications in cancer research.

Market Dynamics

Global Lab-On-A-Chip and Microarrays Market Drivers

Increasing Demand for Point-of-care Testing

POC (point-of-care) testing allows healthcare experts to diagnose a patient in the physician’s office, in an ambulance, at home, on-field, or in the hospital. Lab-on-a-chip-technology-assisted devices are employed for POC testing, as they require small samples and use micro-fabricated channels to analyze these samples. Microfluidics is an enabling technology for POC diagnostic devices. Since they can miniaturize and integrate the majority of the functional modules used in central laboratories into a small chip, microfluidics and lab-on-chip technologies have been regarded as promising solutions that can meet the requirement of the POCT. The diagnosis results can be delivered promptly to help professionals make wise medical decisions.

In addition, the use of point-of-care diagnostics in primary care gives precise results. It is cost-effective compared to other methods, which can drive its demand in disease diagnostics. For instance, the research study published in January 2021, titled “Cost-Effectiveness of Point-of-Care A1C Tests in a Primary Care Setting”, concluded that the use of POC-A1c devices in primary care settings can monitor glycated hemoglobin A1c as a marker in people living with type 2 diabetes and is a cost-effective alternative, which will further fuel the growth in the studied market of lab-on-a-chip and microarray market. Thus, owing to the ease of use and ability to provide instant results, combined with ease of procurement, the use of POC diagnostics is increasing rapidly, and this, in turn, is promoting the overall growth of the market.

Increasing Incidences of Chronic Diseases

Chronic diseases, like heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and arthritis, are long-lasting in their effects and are persistent for more than three months. These diseases are not passed from person to person and are also called non-communicable diseases.

For instance, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2021 Key facts, globally, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) kill 41 million people yearly, equivalent to 71% of all deaths. Between the ages of 30 and 69, more than 15 million people per year pass away from a non-communicable disease; 85% of these "premature" deaths occur in low- and middle-income nations. Low- and middle-income nations account for 77% of all non-communicable illness fatalities. Most non-communicable disease deaths, or 17.9 million people each year, are caused by cardiovascular diseases, followed by cancers (9.3 million), respiratory illnesses (4.1 million), and diabetes. It is anticipated that the rising prevalence of chronic diseases will further boost the need for diagnostic tests, accelerating the global market growth for lab-on-a-chip and microarray products.

Global Lab-On-A-Chip and Microarrays Market Restraint

Design Constraints of Lab-on-chip Technology

The design and fabrication of functional, low-cost devices on a very small scale is the main obstacle to developing lab-on-a-chip technology. As per a 2020 article by Elveflow, contemporary research on lab-on-a-chip technology focuses on the design of specific surface treatments. In designing LOC or microfluidic devices for biomedical applications, sensitive detection modules, like thermal cyclers for PCR reactions, mass spectrometers for sample analysis, microscopes for cells, fluorescence visualization, and bacteria, are required. Such developments indicate the limited benefits and decreased adoption of lab-on-chip technology. Thus, the complex design of the lab-on-chip technology continues to restrain the overall market growth.

Global Lab-On-A-Chip and Microarrays Market Opportunities

Increasing Application of Proteomics and Genomics in Cancer Research

The world of life science research has improved significantly over the past decade. Introducing new technologies may enable researchers to achieve more results using smaller amounts of reagents. Hereditary mutations play an essential role in the risk of cancer, and understanding them can lead to the development of preventive measures to reduce the likelihood of developing cancer. These mutations can be analyzed in various ways, such as by sequencing and other methods. However, microarray studies provide the most inexpensive solution. With arrays, hundreds of thousands of SNPs can be simultaneously studied across large sample sets. Several scientists now use microarrays as a screening tool to increase their understanding of cancer cytogenetics.

Additionally, the proteomics approach has gained popularity in cancer studies, according to a September 2021 research article titled "Application of Proteomics in Cancer: Recent Trends and Approaches for Biomarkers Discovery." Proteomics-based technologies have made it possible to find potential biomarkers and protein expression patterns that can classify tumors, predict their prognosis, and determine which patients might respond well to a given treatment. Such studies indicate that the growing focus on cancer research is augmenting the demand for microarray and lab-on-a-chip technology products, thereby driving market growth. Hence, all these factors are expected to drive the overall market.

Regional Analysis

By region, the global lab-on-a-chip and microarrays market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, and MEA.

North America accounted for the largest market share and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 13.7% during the forecast period. Over the last few years, the interest in high throughput screening (HTS) technologies within academic research increased drastically in the United States. A comprehensive database of the academic screening centers in the country, hosted by the Society for Bimolecular Sciences, is available. It provides HTS resources to the academic community and helps identify both probes and leads for drug discovery. Thus, these centers promote the open-source sharing of small-molecule-screening data. Therefore, with the rising interest in HTS, lab-on-a-chip (LOC) technology is expected to be widely used in the country, as LOC has applications in high-throughput screening. Furthermore, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declared the allocation of funds to develop microfluidic platforms for blood testing among neonatal and pediatric patients. Microfluidics is a vast and growing field in the United States in terms of high-budget sanctions for the R&D of more advanced microfluidic devices, as well as revenue generation. Therefore, the lab-on-a-chip and microarray market in the United States is expected to grow due to the abovementioned factors.

Europe is the second largest region. It is estimated to reach an expected value of USD 13650 million by 2031, registering a CAGR of 13.5%. Germany is one of the most preferred locations for R&D facilities. Many biotech companies have and are continuing to establish their R&D facilities in Germany. The proteomics and genomics industry in the country is growing, which is a positive factor for the market studied. Germany spends a substantial part of its GDP each year on healthcare. As per the OECD, about 11% of the GDP is for healthcare spending per capita. This high spending indicates the high research, which fuels the market studied. Various universities and companies are researching to develop products that can offer automation and high-throughput screening, operate at low volumes of consumables, and have a low turnaround time. For instance, in February 2021, BOIRON and GENAPSYS started cooperating in Germany to offer a new DNA-sequencing technology for a broad scale of customers in academia and industries. The high demand in Germany for biological surveillance and the increased demand for genetic data information offer sequencing labs new opportunities.

Asia Pacific is the third largest region. The market for lab-on-chip and microarrays is growing in China, which can be attributed to the rising involvement of the government in strengthening the country’s biotech industry. The Government of China dedicated USD 18 billion to biotechnology research in its latest five-year plan. In addition, 750 global companies with R&D units in China, coupled with the regulatory framework in the country, are collaboratively benefitting research in the country. China is also making considerable investments in scientific research to understand the biological makeup of people, in addition to analytical tools, cutting-edge data collection, and efficient computing capabilities, to facilitate a large amount of research data. The country is also leading in technology development, specifically the lab-on-a-chip-based POC. Hence, the rising focus on clinical research, precision medicines, technological developments, and new drug discovery is the dominant growth factor for the market studied.

Segmental Analysis

The global lab-on-a-chip and microarrays market is segmented by type, product, application, end-user, and region.

On the Basis of Type

By type, the global lab-on-a-chip and microarrays (biochip) market is segmented into lab-on-a-chip and microarray. The lab-on-a-chip segment accounted for the largest market share and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 13.4% during the forecast period. The lab-on-a-chip concept targets miniaturizing laboratory procedures to allow automation and parallelization through microfluidic chips, which can handle minute sample volumes. Lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices can save a lot of time, and reagents, as samples, are analyzed where they are generated. It also reduces chemical waste and exposure to dangerous substances. Lab-on-a-chip devices equipped with electrodes for particle or cell detection, particle packing, sorting, electrophoresis, PCR, etc., are commercially available. Lab-on-a-chip devices are also excellent tools for cell research, such as cell sorting and growth, and fields like artificial disease models and toxicity studies. Thus, the abovementioned factors are expected to fuel market growth over the forecast period.

On the Basis of Product

By product, the global lab-on-a-chip and microarrays (biochip) market is segmented into instruments, reagents and consumables, software, and services. The reagents and consumables segment accounted for the largest market share and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 13.6% during the forecast period. The reagents and consumables segment covers reagents and microarray/lab-on-a-chip cartilages and chips. A cartridge is a lab-on-a-chip device packaged for sale to the end user. The reagents and biological content are added to the device to create the consumable cartridge. Apart from the high precision requirement during chip manufacture, the microarray/lab-on-a-chip substrates, i.e., glass or polymer slides, should also be inert against the sample and assay reagents, which might comprise organic/inorganic solvents or solutions of extreme pH values. These requirements add up to the cost of chips and cartridges. Reagent kits are assay-specific and come with gels, dyes, and buffers to support microfluidic sample separations. Reagent usage in lab-on-a-chip and microarrays-based devices often carries high costs. Thus, the availability of microfluidic technology in developing countries is often limited by the high cost of imported kits. Several market players are launching products about microarrays. In addition, in December 2019, Dolomite Microfluidics launched several new microfluidic chip options for its innovative Telos system. The expanded range now includes a 50 μm version of the Telos 2 Reagent Chip to complement the original 100 μm option, allowing the formation of monodisperse, 10 to 75 μm droplets containing two reagents. Thus, the abovementioned factors are expected to fuel market growth over the forecast period.

On the Basis of Application

By application, the global lab-on-a-chip and microarrays (biochip) market is segmented into clinical diagnostics, drug discovery, genomics and proteomics, and other applications. The clinical diagnostics segment accounted for the largest market share and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 14.5% during the forecast period. There has been an enormous demand for the development of easy-to-handle and inexpensive clinical diagnostic biochips using fully-integrated plastic microfluidic chips. These chips provide fast and reliable measurements of metabolic parameters in the human body with minimum invasion. The use of microarray-based technology to conduct array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) significantly impacts the diagnosis of genetic disorders. Thus, this segment is expected to witness growth over the forecast period.

On the Basis of End User

By end user, the global lab-on-a-chip and microarrays (biochip) market is segmented into biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and diagnostics centers, and academic, and research institutes The biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies segment accounted for the largest market share and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 13.7% during the forecast period. Lab-on-a-chip devices are part of a wide range of biomedical and other analytical applications, such as protein and DNA analysis, pathogen detection, electrophoresis, expeditious clinical diagnosis, forensic science, blood chemistry analysis, and flow cytometry. Lab-on-a-chip technologies have significant importance in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology fields, with most of their microfluidic applications being in biotechnology research. Hence, with the rising use of lab-on-a-chip devices by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and their significance in research, the segment is expected to witness considerable growth over the forecast period.

Recent Developments

• November 2022 - Mike McMullen, president and chief executive officer, and Bob McMahon, chief financial officer, will talk at the 5th Annual Evercore ISI HealthCONx conference on November 30. This was just revealed by Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A).
• November 2022 - Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today announced the release of the AssayMAP Bravo Protein Sample Prep Workbench 4.0 software. This release adds 21 CFR Part 11 compliance-enabling features that allow AssayMAP Bravo-based automated sample preparation in workflows across the biopharma drug development process.