This looks like a buying opportunity, somebody is selling into the good news. Here is an interesting post I found on Raging Bull
Best Regards -- Dick
By: lrubin $$$
Reply To: None
Thursday, 20 Jul 2000 at 11:52 PM EDT
Post # of 3094
Whilst on my proverbial wild goose chase...
I came across an interesting article. I don't see ABS, but I see Abbott, Roche, and Shield Diagnositics (a UK
distributor - I believe they have TpP in UK?). Here it is:
Point-of-Care Tests Poised for Growth in Myocardial Infarction Testing
Mountain View, California - As healthcare reimbursement policies become more restrictive, services that were
traditionally relegated to inpatient care are shifting
to the outpatient arena. Hospitals are decentralizing laboratory services and implementing point-of-care (POC)
tests in emergency room situations to reduce costs,
accelerate the turnaround times for results, and enable quicker adjustments to therapy. Consequently, the
markets for POC tests designed to help diagnose heart
attacks are expected to see significant growth over the next five years.
The total U.S market for cardiac marker tests was valued at $204.8 million in 1998, reflecting a growth rate of
more than 14 percent over the previous year,
according to Frost & Sullivan (www.frost.com). Nearly 98 percent of those revenues were achieved by the
markets for laboratory-based testing products, while
rapid assays accounted for the remaining portion. However, Frost & Sullivan's research, U.S. Cardiac Marker
Test Markets, predicts an 80/20 split for
laboratory-based tests and rapid assay tests, respectively, by the year 2005.
The cardiac marker rapid assay market is expected to achieve an average annual growth rate of 39.7 percent
throughout the forecast period Driving this impressive
growth is the understanding that point of care tests are useful to chest pain centers because they help
decision making by integrating electrocardiogram (ECG) results
and clinical symptoms. This integration leads to quicker diagnoses and more effective treatment decisions.
A view of the U.S. diagnostic industry's competitive landscape indicates a frenzy of mergers and acquisitions.
As buyers shrink in number but grow larger in size, the
sellers' response has been to try and match them. One-stop shopping, complete product lines and the
bundling of product offerings has been a key trend in the
diagnostic industry.
"Consolidation within the diagnostic industry, and within the industry's customer base has never been more
prevalent than in the last few years," says Vijayashree
Subramanyam, a clinical diagnostics industry analyst for Frost & Sullivan. "This trend is likely to continue as
diagnostic companies strive to maximize market share,
while reference labs and hospitals attempt to lower costs."
Meanwhile, group purchasing organizations are demonstrating their preference for negotiating fewer large
deals rather than managing a number of smaller contracts.
Small medical manufacturers will be hardest hit by these trends. To survive, small firms will need to produce
technologies that can compete with larger competitors or
form alliances with companies that have the resources to effectively market their products.
Consolidation means that large diagnostic companies are spending less on research & development and
less on identifying new disease markers. As a result, new
opportunities are emerging for companies that specialize in the development of new products or that license
technology from research institutes. Niche companies
can achieve success by ensuring that products are adaptable to different instrument bases and by fine tuning
products and services to better reflect industry changes.
This healthcare industry research has integrated the Market Engineering consulting philosophy into the entire
research process. Critical phases of this research
included: Identification of industry challenges, market engineering measurements, strategic
recommendations, planning and market monitoring. All of the vital elements
of this system help the market participants navigate successfully through the cardiac diagnostics market.
Frost & Sullivan gives out Market Engineering awards to recognize companies that have worked hard to make
a positive contribution to the cardiac marker test
industry. Winners of Market Engineering awards for the research conducted within U.S. Cardiac Marker Test
Markets include: Dade Behring for the 1998
Market Engineering Customer Focus Award, Spectral Diagnostics for the 1998 Market Engineering Sales &
Marketing Strategy Award, and Quantech Ltd. for the
1998 Market Engineering Entrepreneurial Company Award.
Companies identified by Frost & Sullivan as market participants and related organizations in U.S. Cardiac
Marker Test Markets include: Abbott Laboratories,
Bayer Corp., Beckman Coulter, bioMerieux Vitek, Inc., Biosite Diagnostics Inc., Dade Behring, Diagnostic
Product Corporation, First Medical, Ortho Clinical
Diagnostics, Inc., Roche Diagnostics Boehringer Mannheim, Rapid Diagnostics, Response Biomedical Corp.,
Spectral Diagnostics Corp., Technical Chemicals and
Products, Tosoh Medics, Inc., Quantech Ltd., Acon Laboratories, Inc., Advanced ImmunoChemical, Inc., AMDL,
Inc., Biomerica, Bio Processing, Inc., Biodesign
International, Golden Bridge International Inc., Gamera Biosciences, HTI Bio-Products, Princeton Biomeditech,
Quest Diagnostic, Inc., Scripps Laboratories,
Shield Diagnostics Ltd., SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories, Trinity Biotech, Plc.
Frost & Sullivan is an international marketing consulting and training company that monitors the healthcare
industry for market trends, market measurements and
strategies. This ongoing research is included as part of the Clinical Labs/Diagnostics Custom Subscription,
and is used to support industry participants with
customized consulting needs. Free executive summaries of all Frost & Sullivan research are available to the
press through our media relations department. |
