Asia Pacific Region to Dominate Global Biosensor Market by 2020

Since the first experiment of biosensors by Leland C. Clark, the global biosensor market has witnessed a steady rise. The term biosensor, which refers to a device, consists of two words, “bio” and “sensor”.  The term has been coined in such a manner, as it performs the task of sending analytical information using biological samples. A biosensor essentially consists of two parts which is one, a biological component which is performs the task of a sensor and two, an electronic part which first detects and then transmits the signal. The bioelement of a biosensor may include nucleic acids, proteins such as antibodies and enzymes, plant proteins and lectins, and materials such as tissue slices, organelles and microorganisms. The signal generated by these bioelements can either be thermal, optical, or electrical.

Today biosensors play a crucial role in applications such as medical testing, industrial processing and monitoring, food toxicity detection, agricultural applications, and environmental pollution control. The sheer ability of biosensors to make a quick detection has opened a huge market for its application in areas such as determining safety of food products that may include microbial pathogens or toxins. The global biosensor market has been segmented for the purpose of understanding on a few pivotal bases. 

Market Segmentation of Global Biosensor Market

The need for segmentation arises in order to understand the subject at hand with absolute clarity and completely. Following the same principle, the global biosensor market has been categorized on the basis of technology, application, and geography. The technological division of global biosensor market includes areas such as electrochemical biosensors, optical biosensors, piezoelectric biosensors, and thermistor biosensors. In terms of applications, the global biosensor market includes medical diagnostics, food toxicity detection, industrial process control, environmental 50, and agricultural testing. Depending on the end-users the global biosensor market is segmented on the basis of point of care testing, home healthcare diagnostics, research laboratories, and security and bio-defense. Geographically speaking, the biosensor market is divided on the regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World.

What Lies Ahead for Global Biosensor Market

The global biosensor market was valued at US$12,963.6 million in 2014 and is expected to reach US$22,551.2 million in 2020, growing at a CAGR of 9.7% from 2014 to 2020. Some of the key growth drivers for the global biosensor market are increasing demand for point of care testing (POCT), prevalence of chronic diseases and lifestyle disorder, aging population, and increasing demand from various industries for biosensors to serve myriad purposes. In addition to these, increasing application of nanotechnology in the healthcare segment is also fueling the demand for biosensors. Rising demand for personalized medicine and non-invasive biosensors are a few more noteworthy growth drivers for the global biosensor market.

Amongst the regions, North America seems to be the promising region in the coming years. This region was valued at US$5,693.4 million in 2014 and is expected to reach a figure of US$9,522.2 million in 2020, growing at a CAGR of 8.9% from 2014 to 2020. However, analysts predict that Asia Pacific will be the fastest growing region in the global biosensor market. The scenario of the other segments indicates electrochemical biosensors will remain the popularly used technology for biosensors, while the widely used application of biosensors remains medical diagnostics. The POCT segment is expected to earn the highest revenue in the forecasted period as compared to others. 

Some of the challenges faced by the global biosensor market are strict regulatory framework and poor reimbursement policies. In addition to this, the inadequacy of regulatory processes to work in tandem with modernization of medical technologies is further hampering the growth of global biosensor market. However, if the global biosensor market can tap into the desperate need for personalized medicine market and the urgent requirement for non-invasive biosensors it would prove to be extremely lucrative and revolutionary for many businesses in this field.