An in-depth examination of scientists’ immunoassay workflows and product and technique preferences underlies the information and analysis presented in Biocompare’s 2018 Immunoassay Market Overview. The report is based on results from a recent survey with over 700 respondents from academia, biotech/pharma, and hospital/clinical labs.
The market overview specifically provides a detailed analysis of five different immunoassay market segments with an in-depth look at market share and vendor preferences. The market segments analyzed include ELISA, Western blotting, immunohistochemistry & immunocytochemistry, flow cytometry, and arrays—microarrays, antibody and protein arrays.
ELISA is the most widely conducted immunoassay procedure, according to Biocompare’s survey as well as other market analyses. Its popularity is driven in part by its reliability, sensitivity, and accuracy. Leading ELISA companies mentioned by survey participants include Abcam, Thermo Fisher Scientific, R&D Systems, BD Biosciences, and MilliporeSigma.
Many of the same companies dominate Western blotting. Proteomics research and biomarker validation are among the principle uses. Key participants in the Western blotting reagent market identified in the survey include Abcam, Bio-Rad, Thermo Fisher Scientific, MilliporeSigma, and Cell Signaling Technology.
With a 2017 market estimate of $1.6 to $1.7 billion, according to multiple reports, immunohistochemistry & immunocytochemistry is a huge segment. There are several hundred companies selling IHC-related reagents, and the leading ones, according to our recent survey, are familiar names like Abcam, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Cell Signaling Technology.
Flow cytometry is a large and growing segment, with both bead-based and cell-based growth being driven by multiplexing and multi-analyte capabilities. Top companies mentioned in the 2018 survey for both bead- and cell-based reagents include BD Biosciences, Abcam, Thermo Fisher Scientific, BioLegend, and Bio-Rad.,
The array segment (encompassing microarrays and antibody and protein arrays) is growing rapidly as well, driven in part by the expanding interest in proteomic research. While proteomic research is on the upswing, it was not among the top-five research areas cited when survey respondents were asked to describe their research interests. The top five areas of immunoassay research are shown in the figure below.
When asked what their primary purpose was for performing immunoassays, answers varied from biomarker development to infectious disease testing.
Cytokines and growth factors were far and away the top analyte types measured using immunoassays, with cell surface and intracellular markers also appearing in the top-ten analytes measured, according to survey respondents.
No matter the sample type (serum, plasma, cell lysate, etc), humans were the top species being studied, followed by mouse. For most sample types, rat rounded out the top-three species being studied.
When survey participants were asked to weigh in on problems associated with the use of immunoassays, the top answers were related to affordability.
When survey participants were asked to provide the most vexing problems/limitations associated with the use of immunoassays, the top two answers were related to affordability: Price of assay kits and/or reagents and cost of detection equipment were both mentioned by a significant percentage of survey respondents. Similarly when survey participants were asked what suggestions they had for suppliers who design next-generation immunoassay instruments and reagents, a large number mentioned the need for cost-effective solutions.
Conversely, though, when survey respondents were asked to rate the most important immunoassay features, affordability ranked fifth after reproducibility, assay precision, sensitivity, and low-cross reactivity/interference.
The full report, which was just released, has additional details on the findings covered in this overview article as well as much more exclusive information on supplier preferences, and trends and challenges associated with the use of immunoassays.