SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Sept. 29, 2017. Biocompare, the leading digital marketplace for the life sciences industry, today released its biennial antibody market report. The goal of the report is to shed light on antibody usage, applications, and preferences and unveil the drivers that influence how researchers select antibodies that will enable them to do advance their research and attain scientific breakthroughs.
The $80 billion worldwide antibody industry is dominated by therapeutics and diagnostic use. Of this total, basic and preclinical researchers spent about $2.7 billion last year on antibodies, a number that is expected to reach $3 billion annually before the end of the decade.
Respondents reported that antibodies represent 33.8% of all reagents purchased by their labs with an average spend of $1210 (mean) per month. In the 2015 survey, these numbers were just a little less ($1205 and 33.6%), indicating that antibody spending is growing, albeit slowly.
Antibodies are used for many purposes but 60.9 % of survey respondents said that identity of markers/analytes was their primary objective in using antibodies. Mechanism of action/pathway analysis was cited as a primary objective by 58.0%. These percentages were 55.9% and 50.9%, respectively, in 2015.
Western blotting remains the dominant application for antibody with respondents saying it is performed 7.1 times per month, followed by flow cytometry at 4.8 times per month. These numbers are virtually unchanged from 2015 (7.4 and 4.7 times per month, respectively) but in 2015 fluorescence microscopy was the second most popular application used 5.0 times per month as opposed to just 4.6 times per month reported in 2017.
The use of recombinant antibodies is also on the rise, with 44.3% of respondents currently using or planning to use recombinant antibodies. This is an increase from 40% in 2015, likely driven by the advantages including improved specificity, greater sensitivity, lot-to-lot consistency and improved reproducibility.
When asked to rate the importance of various purchasing variables, specificity received the highest ranking, following by citations, colleague recommendations, source reputation, and images. These rankings were very similar in 2015, however, in 2013, price was the second most important variable. Price barely ranks in the top ten in 2017.
More than 600 participants representing both academic and industrial research sectors participated in the survey, answering questions dealing with key factors that influence antibody selection, validation, reproducibility criteria and purchasing habits. No matter the application or the area of therapeutic interest, antibodies are integral to life science research. It is essential that products offered meet researchers’ needs and that antibody vendors stay on top of customer requirements to ensure satisfaction. The in-depth information obtained from Biocompare’s 2017 survey combined with extensive antibody expertise inform this antibody market report and make it a definitive resource for all stakeholders in the complex antibody market.
For more information on the 2017 Biocompare Antibody Market report, click here.