Abstract
High Costs Prove a Hurdle to Commercial Adoption
Biochips have emerged as the buzzword in modern day medicine, especially after exhibiting their
immense potential in understanding disease pathways at the molecular level. While major scientific
breakthroughs in this field offer great value addition to changing the paradigm of diagnostics, many
hospitals remain sceptical of investing in these diagnostic kits without knowing their clinical
utility. Also, despite the potential to commercialise drugs faster, their premium pricing does not
justify the use of biochips in routine research processes. Companies are however striving towards
making biochips more affordable and with the combined efforts of research units and regulatory
bodies, pricing could be made more feasible for hospitals in medium to long term.
This Frost & Sullivan research service examines the European markets for biochips in clinical
research. It analyses the competitive structure and provides strategic recommendations to overcome
technical and business challenges confronting the adoption of these applications. The research
service also presents valuable end-user feedback that can help companies better tailor their product
offerings.
Flexibility of Chip Technology and Multi-parameter Testing Drive Uptake in Clinical Research
In this age of bio revolution, biochips offer the ability to identify and prioritise drug targets
through the parallel corroboration of a multitude of gene expressions. The concept of expanding
information content by shrinking feature seize is also being probed using technical knowledge
borrowed from the semiconductor industry. "With the recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
guidelines on pharmacogenomics, it is anticipated that there would be steady growth in the biochips
market," says the analyst of this research service. "Companies can expect to see a boost
in their revenues and market share if they focus on developing disease-specific biomarkers with
genomics/proteomics technology."
The biochips market is witnessing a shift in strategies wherein the established array companies
are looking to gain better penetration rates by collaborating with firms that own biocontent. Recent
alliances in the global markets are expected to have a significant impact on the European market as
they bring together companies with key intellectual properties and adequate financial resources.
With the trend towards strategic alliances, a balanced combination of collaboration strategies,
contracts and pricing is likely to make the DNA market more feasible for use in elaborate laboratory
experimentation.
Personalised Medicine Holds Promise for Future Development
Personalised medicine -- a concept that promises to individualise diagnosis -- is expected to
slowly make its presence in the commercial diagnostic segment. Although this is a positive driver
for the growth of array technologies in clinical diagnostics, the critical hurdle lies in obtaining
consistent and statistically relevant readouts. This calls for systems that are easy to use and are
equipped with robust infrastructure to provide consistent results in the clinical research phase.
Although the novel and radical concept of personalised medicine is expected to alter the nature of
diagnostics in the future, its impact on the commercial market is likely to be more profound in the
medium to long run.
Companies strongly feel biochip technologies need to address relevant research questions in order
to be commercialised in diagnostics. "At present, biochip technologies employed in clinical
diagnostics are thought to account for only around 10 per cent of all biochip applications with the
remainder being used in drug discovery applications," says the analyst. "Most companies
are employing open platforms in their biochips since this helps boost revenues and ensures healthy
dividends that compensate the high research and development (R&D) costs involved in enabling
these technologies."
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