European Market for Biochips in Clinical Research Applications

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."