ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a recent survey, Applied Biosystems (NYSE: ABI - News), Affymetrix (Nasdaq: AFFX - News), Illumina (Nasdaq: ILMN - News), Orchid Biosciences (Nasdaq: ORCH - News), Sequenom (Nasdaq: SQNM - News) and QIAGEN (Nasdaq: QGENF - News) are the companies scientists most closely associate with the fast-growing market for products and services related to SNP genotyping. More than 540 researchers currently studying single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were surveyed by BioInformatics, LLC (Arlington, VA), a leading provider of market research to the biotechnology industry.
In a new report, "The Market for SNP Products and Services: Enabling Pharmacogenomics," BioInformatics explores why scientists choose one genotyping method over another, what products and services they are buying, and the challenges they continue to face. Looking at the entire market potential, the report not only reflects the experience and opinions of 377 scientists who currently perform SNP genotyping in their own labs, but also 166 others who primarily outsource their SNP genotyping.
The results of the survey reveal a fast growing segment of the life science market as over half of the respondents expect to increase their level of SNP genotyping over the next 12 months. "SNPs are the focus of so much attention in the pharmaceutical industry because they provide a powerful approach to understanding the connection between genetic variation and its physical manifestation," explains Dr. Tamara Zemlo, senior science advisor for BioInformatics. "Understanding the role of genetic variation is expected to profoundly change our understanding of human disease and the practice of medicine in the years to come."
The enormous number of SNPs currently being discovered as a result of whole genome association studies is prompting industry to develop new technologies emphasizing ever-higher throughput and cost effectiveness. At the same time, however, the report clearly demonstrates that the products a scientist chooses to detect mutations will vary greatly depending on the scale and scientific question he or she is trying to answer.
For example, when deciding what method to use for SNP genotyping, "accuracy" is the most important feature sought by an overwhelming 87% of the scientists who currently perform SNP genotyping in their own lab. Of all the SNP genotyping methods available, 62% of these 377 respondents employ sequencing -- a technique that offers researchers the highest degree of specificity and selectivity due to its redundancy.
"Sequencing's 'gold standard' status is due in part to the fact that the validity of most other SNP genotyping techniques has been evaluated by comparing the level of agreement of their results with the results based upon sequencing," hypothesizes Dr. Robin Rothrock, BioInformatics' Director of Market Research. "Another attraction of this technique is its relative ease and its availability to many researchers."
The report suggests that when trying to decide among the many SNP genotyping methods available, scientific customers can become easily overwhelmed by their options -- from the selection of which molecular technique to use, to a myriad of choices for labeling, detection and scoring.
"The results of this survey clearly highlight the complexity of the market for both scientists and suppliers," says Rothrock. "Scientists want tools to improve accuracy and throughput coupled with enhanced cost effectiveness, but they're willing to make trade-offs based on the goals of their research. Better software is also needed, not only for allele-calling, but for solutions that provide enhanced data analysis capabilities."
Rothrock concludes, "Given the current state of the market for SNP genotyping products and services, suppliers will most likely gain a competitive advantage when they focus on a specific niche and stay attuned to the evolving needs of their customers."
ABOUT BIOINFORMATICS, LLC
BioInformatics, LLC is a market research firm located in Arlington, Virginia. BioInformatics supports marketing, sales and R&D executives in the life science, medical device and pharmaceutical industries through published research reports, custom research and consulting. BioInformatics sponsors the world's largest market research panel of scientific customers -- The Science Advisory Board (http://www.scienceboard.net ) -- which consists of more than 13,000 scientists, physicians and other life science and medical professionals from 62 countries who participate in surveys that address emerging technologies, test customer reactions to new product concepts, measure brand awareness and assess advertising effectiveness.
For a complimentary Executive Summary of this report, please visit gene2drug.com |
