It was a hectic close to 2010 which shows us that biotools industry is alive and healthy! Though the future economic environment for the globe remains uncertain and public funding levels for life sciences in the US may plataue of or even dip in 2011, there were several things that we noticed at Percepta that we believe will be trending this year. The short list of trends in no particular order is:

Trend #1 – biotools companies are increasingly looking to markets like China and Southeast Asia not just for manufacturing capabilities but also for sales revenue.

It is not surprising to see increasing interest in revenue growth in China and other Asian markets as breakneck economic growth in these geographies translates into research and development investments in academic, government and industrial life science laboratories. Percepta recognizes the need to access current market information from these markets and is investing in the needed infrastructure now to meet the demand for market research and market intelligence in 2011 and beyond.

Trend #2 – personalized medicine is real and growing and will require more companion diagnostics biotools.

The promise of the genomics revolution a decade ago is coming to fruition. Pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies are now entrenched in the process of segmenting their drug markets and developing companion diagnostics to accompany there lead drug candidates whenever possible. In doing so they are relying more and more on molecular methods and technologies common in biotool portfolios as a means to get regulatory approval as well as revenue. This will open new application markets for biotools companies as support organizations (CROs and companion diagnostics companies) add to market demand and create new growth.

Trend #3 – with the expiration of key patents in 2011 innovation (and growth?) in Q-PCR markets will be increasing.

Does this mean all need for licensing will vanish? No. But as the Haguchi patents wind down there will no doubt be increasing innovation around the Q-PCR field (See this article). This could mean more enabling technologies that have been under development in the research community could become more commercially viable and spur on a new wave of growth in the amplification segment for both research and diagnostic applications. Percepta will be watching this closely in coming months and years so keep an eye out for the next Nucleic Acid Amplification Life Science Dashboard.

These trends will be interesting to follow in this and coming years as the biotools market naturally evolves to meets the needs of the market. Percepta looks forward to keeping track of it for you.

As always, your comments are welcome (no spam please).