Kalorama: A 5.4 Billion-Dollar Business in Automating Clinical Laboratories
NEW YORK, April 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- IVD market researcher Kalorama Information says lab automation systems sold to clinical laboratories reached 5.4 billion dollars in sales in 2014. Shortage of personnel will drive these purchases, as will the need for new systems. The firm looks at the status of lab automation in both clinical and drug discovery lab segments every two years. Their latest report, Lab Automation Markets, 4th Edition, was recently published.
"The shortage of medical technologists is becoming more significant every year as fewer students enter the field," said Joe Constance, Kalorama analyst and author of the report. "At the same time the aging baby boomer population is generating increased demand for medical testing. Only automation can bridge this gap."
The report says annually, only about 4,000 people in the US are graduating in the lab technology field. Current professionals are reaching retirement age in disproportionate numbers. Among the causes of the lab labor shortage is the increased demand for laboratorians in alternate and complex lab testing facilities. Laboratory personnel are being hired in physicians' office laboratories, clinics, veterinarians' offices, industrial laboratories and research laboratories. Clinical laboratory work also remains a hidden profession. The lack of public knowledge about professional lab opportunities is evident when people are questioned about what careers are available in the medical field. Very few are aware of the variety of careers available in the medical field other than doctors, nurses and paramedics.
Demand for systems is expected to remain strong for the next five years, the report said. But customers will have specific needs. Interoperability was a key need that vendors report they are seeing from customers. Miniaturization and increasing in volume of screening samples are also customer priorities.
"Labs continue to look for more standardization and improved interaction and compatibility among different vendor's systems," said Constance. "Equipment must interface and work with electronic and mechanical components and other systems. Ideally a laboratory automation system should combine the best components from a variety of equipment vendors."
Automation is one of the more dynamic parts of the in vitro diagnostic industry according to the report, because the competition has equalized in many areas of lab analysis, at least in routine segments. As automation companies seek to find new market opportunities and increase their sales, several of these firms have inked partnership agreements or have established other types of collaborative arrangements with in vitro diagnostic (IVD) companies. For automation suppliers, these arrangements can lead to sales that might otherwise not been achieved without the attraction of the IVD systems.
Lab Automation Markets, 4th Edition contains a list of the top companies in automation and the IVD companies, and has specific market estimates for categories of the automation market. More information can be obtained at http://www.marketresearch.com/redirect.asp?progid=87328&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ekaloramainformation%2Ecom%2FLab%2DAutomation%2DEdition%2D8827604%2F.
About Kalorama Information
Kalorama Information, a division of MarketResearch.com, supplies the latest in independent medical market research in diagnostics, biotech, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and healthcare; as well as a full range of custom research services. Reports can be purchased through Kalorama's website and are also available on www.marketresearch.com and www.profound.com.
We routinely assist the media with healthcare topics. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and our blog at www.kaloramainformation.com.
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SOURCE Kalorama Information
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