COVID-19 Diagnostics Market to Surpass Revenues of USD 13 Billion in 2020

However, once COVID-19 vaccines are released in the market, the novel coronavirus will no longer be given pandemic status and COVID-19 will become like any other normal infectious disease, thus reducing the demand for test kits in the market.

These are the latest findings of Arizton Advisory and Intelligence (Chicago, IL, USA), a provider of market intelligence reports and advisory and consulting services.

Countries across the globe are conducting mass testing for COVID-19 to diagnose and isolate affected patients, helping to contain the spread of the coronavirus. As the number of people with the disease increases and other existing diagnostic techniques such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) take longer, the demand for rapid testing is surging. People feel that they can be severely affected by the disease by the time they provide a sample for the test and receive the results. Rapid testing can provide results within 24 hours or less. As the number of samples increases, labs are using more rapid testing to increase the number of tests performed. Rapid tests are also being used as a priority in hospitals as the waiting period for the test results has increased to more than a week in some places.

Based on product, the need to perform rapid testing for the detection of coronavirus is driving the demand for consumables, including biomarkers and reagents, including substrates, enzymes, electrolytes, specific proteins, lipids, and point-of-care test kits, as they obtain quick and accurate results for diagnosing diseases, including COVID-19. On the basis of type of test, the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) segment holds a share of over 75% of the global COVID diagnostics market as RT-PCR testing is considered exceptionally reliable. The COVID-19 diagnostics market is witnessing increasing uptake of PCR testing for reliable and quick diagnosis. The WHO has recommended it as a gold standard test for COVID-19 diagnosis, leading to higher usage of PCR testing among countries across the world. The demand for PCR-based tests has increased by 300 times, as compared to the pre-COVID-19 situation.

Based on technology, the molecular segment holds the largest share of the global COVID-19 diagnostics market, as most of the immunoassays had demonstrated limited sensitivity and specificity during the initial days of the pandemic. Immunoassay tests had also produced several false positive and false negative results, forcing healthcare providers to look for alternative testing methods. This has resulted in greater preference for the use of molecular techniques such as PCR for accurate diagnosis. However, vendors have now come up with high sensitivity and specificity immunoassay tests that deliver superior results. By end-user, the diagnostic laboratories segment dominates the global COVID-19 diagnostics market with the highest share, as the majority of public and private labs are focusing on the diagnosis of COVID-19 samples during the pandemic.

Geographically, APAC accounted for the largest share of the global COVID-19 diagnostics market at around 42% in 2019. This was primarily due to the larger population and large numbers of tests conducted by countries such as China, India, and Singapore in the region. China, Japan, India, South Korea, and Australia are the major revenue contributors to the APAC COVID-19 diagnostics market. APAC is expected to remain the largest market for COVID-19 diagnostics during the forecast period as its higher population will increase the target pool of people requiring diagnosis and improvement in the region’s healthcare infrastructure. In addition, the rising purchasing power for healthcare services and growing focus on early diagnosis and prevention programs such as mass testing in the region are encouraging more people to get diagnosed for COVID-19.

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