The life science (LS) market consists of 14 distinct technology categories and is the largest of all analytical-instrument markets, including aftermarket and service revenues. In this year’s forecast issue, the LS category also includes capillary electrophoresis, which was previously counted as part of the separations market.

In 2014, the LS market increased 5.9% to $11.8 billion. Consumables, reagents, kits and other aftermarket products make up the majority of LS market demand, representing nearly two-thirds of the market. In 2015, LS demand is forecast to increase 4.5%, bringing the total market to $1.23 billion.

Academic and government end-users account for more than 40% of LS-market demand. Continued advancements in sequencing technology are expanding research applications in this end-market, particularly for clinical research. This growth is expected to continue to drive demand for this end-market over the next few years. The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries make up the second-largest end-market due to the multitude of applications employing LS techniques, particularly high-throughput screening, biomarker discovery and research, and pharmacogenomics.

North America and Europe accounted for almost three-fourths of the LS market in 2014 and are expected to maintain a similar share in upcoming years as the popularity of sequencing continues to increase. However, some uncertainties in the public sector could hinder potentially higher growth. Developing markets in Asia, particularly Southeast Asia and India, gained share in the LS market in 2014, and this trend is likely to continue this year. Japan also has a significant share of the LS market. However, currency issues are holding back significant growth in the country.

Two companies represented more than 30% of the LS market in 2014. Thermo Fisher Scientific, by way of its acquisition of Life Technologies (see IBO 4/15/13), leads the market. Illumina, which participates in far fewer technology segments, is the second-largest vendor.

Accounting for almost 20% of the total LS demand is the PCR market. This market is expected to grow 2.0% in 2015. The primary vendors for PCR are Thermo Scientific and Bio-Rad Laboratories. Sequencing, the fastest-growing segment of the LS market at 12% projected growth for 2015, is also the second-largest market. Illumina dominates this market. Thermo Scientific is also a major player. Molecular IVD and companion diagnostics are expected to drive growth for sales of next-generation sequencing (NGS) systems, which could potentially be sustained for many more years due to continual updates to whole-genome databases.

The flow cytometry market growth is forecast to grow 3.1% this year. Other cell-based–instrument technologies include high-content–screening systems and imagers, and cell counters. The combination of fragmented markets, improving technology and lower system cost is creating a favorable environment for developing-region demand.

Microarray demand is expected to grow 2.2% in 2015, primarily due to application movement toward NGS.