Life Sciences PCR Market Strength Seen in Recent Acquisitions

It's not surprising that companies that produce PCR products would be of interest to larger concerns given the need for better life sciences research and pharmaceutical pipelines, said market researcher Kalorama Information. The firm recently completed a report PCR Markets for Life Sciences Applications and noted that this was a $2 billion market in 2017, and is projected to grow slowly to roughly a $2.1 billion market in 2022. Two developments suggest continued growth: Agilent Technologiess and Danaher both have been involved in PCR-related acquisitions:

On the 7th of March, Agilent announced that a definitive agreement had been reached to acquire Advanced Analytical Technologies for $250 million in cash. Advanced Analytical Technologies (AATI) develops instruments using capillary electrophoresis (CE) in parallel with UV absorbance of fluorescence detection, the flagship model of which is the Fragment Analyzer, which streamlines workflow through automation. The instruments are useful in applications such as genomic DNA analysis, QC for NGS libraries, and oligonucleotide purity assessment, and are used in biopharmacology, forensics, and food biology sectors, among others. Additionally, AATI produces reagents and software for nucleic acid analysis, and has been partnered with companies like Illumina, Pacific Biosciences, and TTP Labtech.

The Danaher Corporation announced on the 9th that it would be acquiring Skokie, IL-based Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT), the largest purchase for Danaher's life sciences segment since 2015, at $1.9 billion. The deal will "expand [Danaher's] presence into the highly attractive genomics market," according to Danaher's Life Sciences Executive VP, Rainer Blair. IDT, a major producer of genomics consumables, has been making ripples of its own in the genomics pool lately, having acquired the oligonucleotide manufacturing business from GeneWorks, Inc.in February 2017, and the company has been collaborating with Illumina since May of that year, to develop a portfolio of indexed adapters for the NGS market. The acquisition is expected to be completed mid-year.

The life science market for PCR instruments and reagents is large, although growth of this market has slowed significantly in recent years. However, as the growth of traditional PCR assays for research applications has slowed, new opportunities are emerging. For example, PCR is often used to amplify nucleic acid targets as part of sample prep before next generation sequencing is performed. dPCR will increasingly take market share from qPCr though qPCR will be the prominent technology.

Overall, the PCR and Other PCR market will continue to be a large market, with significant opportunities for some companies in this market. However, the dynamics of this market are changing, presenting potential threats as well as the opportunities to companies participating in this market. Growth will be strongest in China, Latin America and the rest of the world, according to the report.

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