Rising Need for Effective Diagnostic Method to Boost The Cancer Biomarker Market
Published On: February 2018
Cancer biomarkers are substances that can be used to trace or indicate existence of tumor and thus it can be used to analyze diagnostic and prognostic stages of cancer. The prevention of cancer by diagnosing and analyzing various cancer biomarkers using different diagnostic techniques is a profound approach for obtaining rapid results for treatment.
These biomarkers are used as risk indicators for various cancer types such as lung cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer among others. Some of the key biomarkers that are widely used include CEA, SCC, NSE Cyfra 21-1 and TPA (lung cancer), PSA (prostate cancer) and CA15-3, EGF R, BRCA 1/2 and Cytokeratin 14 (breast cancer).
Cancer is highly prevalent in lower and middle income countries as they lack suitable healthcare infrastructure to effectively combat the condition. According to the National Center for Health Statistics in 2017, about 1,688,780 new cancer cases was estimated with 600,920 cancer deaths projected to occur in the United States.
In addition, presence of favorable government initiatives for the development of novel cancer diagnostic techniques is a key factor for market growth. For instance, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) provides funding to more than 8 research areas pertaining to cancer biomarker development. Cancer Research U.K, Lung Cancer Research Foundation, and National Institutes of Health are some of the organizations providing funding for biomarker research.
Increasing awareness among patients and healthcare professionals about the importance of early diagnosis of malignancies and rising demand for personalized medicine is anticipated to provide this market with high growth opportunities in the coming decade. Diagnostic biomarkers for early diagnosis enable doctors on deciding better treatment alternatives leading to successful recovery in lesser time.
What is the most preferred diagnostic option witnessing rising demand in the coming years?
Cancer biomolecules find application in various fields such as drug discovery and development, diagnostics, and personalized medicine. Diagnostics were the key revenue-generating application of the market pertaining to factors such as increasing development of biomarker-based oncology tests with high specificity and sensitivity. Biomarker is considered as the next generation diagnostic technique that is gaining prominence worldwide. The advantage of this technique is its rapid testing ability and relative low cost of diagnosis when compared to other screening techniques.
There are numerous players operating in this market all over the globe. Many organizations, especially in the Americas region, have their own manufacturing units. While some organizations outsource their facility of manufacturing to other organizations. In addition, increasing regulatory approval of novel drugs and diagnostics pertaining to cancer biomarkers is estimated to increase the adoption rate. For instance, in 2016, Epigenomics AG, a company involved in the development of novel epigenetic biomarker test announced that its Epi proColon was included by the Chinese government for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. Over 85% of malignancies are reported to be detected with the help of genetic and proteomic biomarkers.
There is a high cost involved in developing a cancer biomarker for diagnostic purpose. The biggest hurdle associated with such development of biomarkers is the low estimated rate of successful clinical trials of biomarkers. Such low success rates of clinical trials regarding cancer biomarkers lead to low benefit-cost ratio.
Development of Novel Treatment is Promoting the Growth of Cancer biomarker Market
The cancer biomarker market is changing continuously during last few decades and is expecting a huge development in coming future. Through extensive research, it is found that the market players have adopted the strategy of FDA approvals and acquisitions to expand their market.
GlaxoSmithKline plc. has huge market share in the global cancer biomarker market. The company operates into two main business segment namely immunology and oncology. For instance, in 2016, GSK Pharma sold its oncology portfolio to Novartis India. By selling oncology division, company will be more focused on other segments such as vaccine business. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. holds the largest share for global cancer biomarker market. The company develops and manufactures pharmaceuticals, medical and diagnostics products. The company is known for their technological innovations in cancer biomarker market. In the recent years, Roche and Qualcomm Incorporated entered into a strategic collaboration to improve remote monitoring and management of chronic disease patients
The market players which were involved are PerkinElmer, Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Pfizer Inc., QIAGEN N.V, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and many others in the cancer biomarker market.
The increase in the prevalence of cancers is due to many reasons such as increased consumption of fast food and leading a sedentary lifestyle. These factors will increase the growth of the cancer biomarker market during the forecast period.
