Companion Diagnostic (CD) Market is Expected to Reach $3.5 Billion, Globally, by 2020

According to a new research report by Allied Market Research titled "World Companion Diagnostic Market" the global companion diagnostic market is expected to reach$3.5 billion by 2020, and it would grow at a CAGR of 20% from 2014 to 2020.

Companion diagnostic (CD) is an in-vitro diagnostic technique that provides information about therapeutic responses of patient to a specific treatment. Companion diagnostics helpin identification of the patients who would benefit from the treatment using a certain therapeutic product which would result in improved treatment outcomes and decrease expenditure on healthcare. In addition, CD also helps in identifying the patient pool that is most likely to respond to the therapeutic treatment; therefore, rules out therapies that would be ineffective. Additionally, it also saves patients from adverse side effects due to ineffective therapies, leading to reduced cost. Rising incidence of cancer, increasing adverse reactions due to drugs and personalized treatment approach is pushing R&D efforts to focus on the development of targeted therapies. Technological advancement and discovery of new biomarkers is also driving growth of this market. However, coordinating the development of companion diagnostics and therapeutic products is a challenge for this market. Nevertheless, the increasing incidences of cancer, cardiovascular conditions, central nervous system conditions has resulted in significant investments in research and development of targeted therapies, which would need corresponding companion diagnostics and would be an opportunity for growth of this market.

Companion diagnostics market by indication is segmented into oncology, cardiovascular, CNS, autoimmune & inflammation, virology and others. Presently, the majority of the companion diagnostics has been developed for cancer and thus, it is the major revenue generating segment in the overall CD indication market. Companion diagnostics have been developed for breast cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, gastric cancer and melanomas. Companion diagnostics for breast cancer is the highest revenue generator mainly because there has been an increase in the incidences of breast cancer and many companion diagnostics have been developed for detection of the HER/neu biomarker for breast cancer. As of now, companion diagnostics for cardiovascular conditions, central nervous system conditions , inflammation and autoimmune diseases and viral diseases are very few, with a majority still in the development stage; however, as more and more biomarkers are being discovered, there would be an increase in the development of new companion diagnostics.

Companion diagnostics market by technology is segmented into Immunohistochemistry and molecular diagnostics. Molecular diagnostics havebeen the most favored technology and it is expected that next generation sequencing and real-time PCR would drive the growth of this market owing to recent advancements in these technologies. The market is dominated by North America followed by Europe, as there is an increased healthcare awareness, significant investments in research & development and increasing incidences of cancer and other conditions in these regions. However, LAMEA is expected to grow at a significant rate, as there are growing incidences of cancer in these regions. There is also an increased awareness about healthcare, in the region; therefore, the usage of companion diagnostics would invariably rise. Ten leading companies dealing in companion diagnostics have been profiled and are Qiagen, Dako (Agilent Technologies), Roche, Abbott Laboratories, Inc., bioMerieux, Ventana Medical Systems, Myriad Genetics, Inc., Leica Microsystems, Resonance Health Ltd and Life Technologies. The key strategy followed by majority of the companies is collaborations with pharmaceutical companies for developing companion diagnostics for their pipeline drugs.