Clinical Laboratory Services Market Overview
The global clinical laboratory services market size is projected to grow considerably in the coming years because of the surging geriatric population, advancements in diagnostic techniques, and rising incidence of chronic diseases. In addition to this, heavy investments by pharmaceutical companies for the development of innovative clinical laboratory devices is also driving the requirement for efficient and cost-effective clinical laboratory services.
These services provide information to the healthcare providers regrading the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases. This is done through different diagnostic instruments and procedures, which are utilized for gathering, analyzing, and interpreting the information from the human body specimens, such as urine and blood. Clinical laboratory services find applications in a number of diagnostic tests, including pregnancy tests, HIV tests, test for checking cholesterol level, nucleic acid tests, which have a significant impact on the heath outcome.
The different clinical laboratory test types are clinical chemistry laboratory tests, medical microbiology & cytology laboratory tests, human & tumor genetic tests, and other esoteric tests. Among these, the clinical chemistry tests contributed the largest revenue share to the clinical laboratory services market in the past due to the rising utilization of tests related to serum, urine, plasma, and other body fluids for the screening of diseases. Furthermore, the improvements in test because of the introduction of novel markers and applications for existing markers is resulting in the category’s growth.
The fastest growth is expected to be witnessed by the microbiology and cytology tests in the coming years, which is ascribed to the increasing cases of bacterial, nosocomial, parasitic, fungal, and viral infections. Moreover, the development and reduction in the costs of sequencing technology are predicted to positively impact the growth of the category in the clinical laboratory services market. The next-generation sequencing technology aids microbiologists procure information regarding the role of particular microbes in disease pathogenesis, which streamlines the lab service portfolio.
The different clinical laboratory services providers are hospital-based, clinic-based, and stand-alone. Out of these, the hospital-based laboratories held the largest clinical laboratory services market share in the past because of the rising requirement for early disease detection and rising demand for delivering comprehensible services. Apart from this, favorable reimbursement policies for these tests is also predicted to drive the category’s growth. The stand-alone laboratories are expected to witness considerable growth in the coming years due to the gradual acceptance of digital pathology.
Geographically, North America accounted for the largest share of the clinical laboratory services market in the past, owing to the increasing healthcare expenditure, primarily in the U.S. Additionally, the regional market is registering growth due to the supportive regulatory infrastructure to ensure the development and approval of new diagnostic products. The Asia-Pacific region is projected to witness the fastest growth in the near future, as the developing countries in the region are increasingly adopting strategic methods to expand their business footprint on the global market.
Clinical Laboratory Services Market Dynamics
Drivers
The rising geriatric population is one of the primary driving factors for the clinical laboratory services market growth. As per the World Population Prospects by the U.S., the global aging population is projected to increase from 962 million in 2017 to 2.1 billion in 2050. People aged 60 or above are more prone to different diseases because of weak immune systems, thereby requiring proper medical care. Furthermore, the increasing incidence of target diseases and growing initiatives by the government for the prevention of these diseases are also resulting in the growth of the market.
Technological advancements in the industry are further driving the growth of the clinical laboratory services market. Manufacturers in the industry are increasingly focusing on introducing technologically advanced clinical laboratory testing services. For example, the implementation of automated solutions in clinical workflows allows the processing of larger samples per unit of time, which enhances productivity and minimized labor costs and human errors. Moreover, the emergence of innovative products, including microarrays and biochips, and advanced diagnostic modes, including companion diagnostic, are resulting int the growing need for early disease detection.
Clinical Laboratory Services Market Competitive Landscape
Some of the key players operating in the global clinical laboratory services market include Abbott Laboratories, Bio-Reference Laboratories Inc., Bioscientia Healthcare GmbH, Charles River Laboratories Inc, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, Healthscope Ltd, Spectra Laboratories, Labco S.A., Sonic Healthcare Limited, Quest Diagnostics Inc., ARUP Laboratories, and Genoptix Medical Laboratory.
