According to a report by Kalorama Information (New York, NY, USA), overall growth in the clinical chemistry market will be modest, driven mainly by new tests and demographic changes, including an aging population and increasing number of people at risk of cardiovascular disease, such as those with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and abdominal obesity.

Kalorama’s report The Worldwide Market for In Vitro Diagnostic Tests covers clinical chemistry as well as the other major segments of clinical IVD testing. The report includes market estimates for 2013 base year and forecasts to 2018.

Kalorama expects modest growth in clinical chemistry despite predicted explosive growth in emerging markets such as India, China, and Brazil. This is because the US, Europe, and Japan account for at least 85% of the market and are expected to dominate for the next 5 years. Also, intense provider consolidation in the US, commoditization of most offerings, and increasing price pressures have pushed cost per test of routine chemistries about as low as possible.

“This is a mature market but there will be some growth, likely modest growth, from sales to emerging markets and expanding test menus,” said Bruce Carlson, publisher of Kalorama Information.

Despite the mature status of routine testing, the clinical chemistry market is continuously redefining itself via new test processes and menus. What growth will occur derives from new tests in lipid analysis, proteins, hormones and enzymes related to diabetes research, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other acute and chronic conditions. The trend of adding new tests to the lab menu includes tests for homocysteine, anti-CCP, tumor markers, procalcitonin, Vitamin D, autoimmune ANAs, allergy, BNP, hsCRP, and hemoglobin A1c.

Clinical chemistry labs are challenged to add new tests with little increase in financial and human resources, in some cases even doing more with less. With cuts in government reimbursement rates, along with cost-cutting measures in general, clinical labs are exploring ways to improve productivity with smaller budgets. To survive, labs will need to run more tests in fewer sites, operate with less equipment, maintain lower operating costs, hire less skilled labor, and harness additional automation.

With increasing pressure to cut costs, top vendors and many central laboratories have invested in new systems that respond to the drive for automation to maintain or improve laboratory profitability. Automation optimizes efficiency and lowers errors by integrating mechanical, electronic, and informatics tools to perform various tasks.