Sale of New DNA Sequencers Keep Pace with Growing Demand

Sales of DNA sequencers increased in the last year with the introduction of new systems and a growing demand for sequencing, according to the healthcare market research publisher Kalorama Information. Introductions of the Ion Torrent PGM, PacBio RS, and MiSeq grew the market nearly 5% to USD 560 million in 2011. More new technologies are expected that may further change the market and introduce price changes. "This was getting to be a stable market, but that changed in the last two years," said Justin Saeks, Kalorama analyst and author of the report; "Now it's more volatile and complicated; we think customers will acquire new systems, but pricing and feature preferences will get interesting." In addition to analyzing and forecasting DNA sequencer sales, the report also looks at sequencer consumables and services sales.

According to the report, DNA sequencing has seen very high growth in recent years as labs have decided to use next-generation sequencing, though large segments of end-users still use CE Sanger systems. The science of sequencing is constantly evolving, particularly as more clinical applications are sought and competition with other technologies is resolved. Just one of many trends: large structural variations have shown to be highly important for genetic variation (more so than SNPs) so read lengths then become a key factor in purchases. "Longer-term, questions still remain for broad areas such as disease prevention and diagnostics which could turn into home runs or strikeouts," said Mr. Saeks.

The report also examines the competitive positions of players and says competition will be intense as systems are constantly improved and new products appear. It suggests customer criteria and priorities may change so specific features might be make-or-break depending on the applications that are discovered; as specific applications place emphasis on one benefit or another, the market segments can then narrow down their usage to certain products.

Related Links:
Kalorama Information
DNA Sequencing Equipment and Services Markets, 3rd Edition