The global immunohistochemistry (IHC) market is witnessing considerable growth due to increasing geriatric population, increasing healthcare expenditure and growing awareness about histopathology. Moreover, growing prevalence of chronic diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases, diabetes mellitus, and nephrological diseases is supporting the growth of the market. Based on product type, the kit segment is expected to grow at faster rate during the forecast period. The increasing adoption of IHC kit across the globe, owing to its ease of use, availability of ready to use reagents and antibodies, and optimized sensitivity of the antibody to the antigen, is driving the growth of this segment.
The rapid growth in emerging economies and technological development in the in vitro diagnostics industry is expected to create opportunities for the manufacturers of IHC kit, equipment and reagent. However, high cost of IHC equipment is the key factor hampering the growth of the global market.
IHC is used by public or private organizations to check localization and distribution of specific cellular components within the cells. It is a technique which combines immunological, anatomical, and biochemical processes to identify tissue components by the interaction of target antigens with specific antibodies that are tagged by a label.
According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a specialized cancer agency of WHO that promotes cancer research, as many as 12.7 million new patients were detected with cancer in 2008 globally and the number is expected to reach 21.4 million by 2030. Further, a total of 8.2 million deaths took place globally due to cancer in 2012, of which 1.6 million deaths were due to lung cancer, while 745,000 deaths were due to liver cancer, and 400,000 deaths were a result of oesophageal cancer.
Geographically, North America has been the largest market for IHC, owing to increased awareness, established healthcare industry, and easy accessibility to advanced technologies. The U.S. contributed largest revenue to the North American as well as global IHC market. The advanced cancer diagnostic testing and cancer screening is the key growth driving factor for the U.S. IHC market.
Europe has been the second largest market for IHC, where the market is driven by the presence of a large pool of cancer patients, increasing healthcare expenditure and rapidly developing healthcare infrastructure. In 2015, Germany lead the European IHC market and it is also expected to grow at the fastest rate in Europe, during forecast period. Globally, the IHC market is expected to witness the fastest growth in Asia-Pacific during the forecast period. The highest growth in the region is attributed to the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, increasing per capita income leading to improving standard of living, increasing healthcare spending, growing demand for better quality medical care, and awareness about IHC tests in the region. Moreover, increasing prevalence of geriatric population and increasing prevalence of cancer in the region further supports the market growth.
The key players operating in the global IHC market are F. Hoffmann-LA Roche AG, Danaher Corporation, Agilent Technologies, Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Merck Millipore, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Perkinelmer, Inc., Cell Signaling Technology, Inc., Bio SB and Abcam PLC.
