Frost & Sullivan: Expanding Customer Base Assures Double-Digit Growth for the U.S. Next-Generation Sequencing Market

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California, April 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

-- Cost-effective outsourcing to service providers can restrict growth potential for sequencing equipment vendors

With a slew of new instruments hitting the market with improved data output and decreased cost per run, prospects for the next-generation sequencing market remain buoyant. By delivering systems with different throughput options and price points, vendors are broadening their potential end-user base. As sequencing becomes even more affordable, the technology will become accessible to smaller laboratories, while larger organizations may increase infrastructure more readily. The market will remain in a strong adoption period with double-digit growth over the next three years as the technology percolates to new customers and research fields.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan's (http://www.drugdiscovery.frost.com) Strategic Analysis of the U.S. Next Generation Sequencing Markets research provides a detailed product analysis of next-generation sequencing instruments; analyzes trends and new applications driving the market; and provides a future market outlook, including the impact of third-generation sequencers.

If you are interested in more information on this research, please send an email to Britni Myers, Corporate Communications, at britni.myers@frost.com, with your full name, company name, job title, telephone number, company email address, company Web site, city, state and country.

Sequencing developers have started to provide low-to-mid throughput "personal" sequencing instruments at lower price points for smaller laboratories in attempts to secure a wider customer base. These instruments have lower outputs, often half the gigabases of data per run of their more expensive counterparts. With these more affordable benchtop sequencers, instrument providers hope to lure those researchers currently using their core facilities or services providers for sequencing needs.

"In the near term, getting sequencers into smaller labs remains a major initiative for sequencing providers as they continue to introduce reasonably priced benchtop systems," said Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Christianne Bird. "In the long term, sequencing vendors are eying personalized medicine and clinical sequencing to open new end-user markets and drive major growth."

Along with a growing marketplace of sequencing instrumentation providers, the number of service providers and core facilities offering sequencing services is growing steadily. These providers remain a strong customer base for instrument suppliers. On the flip side, the use of sequencing core facilities and services providers gives an alternative to purchasing a sequencer and conducting work in-house, thus limiting the adoption of sequencing instrumentation. For researchers with limited capital equipment budgets, bioinformatics infrastructure, or throughput requirements, services remain an attractive option. In addition, for small, one-time sequencing projects, using a service provider will always be more cost effective. Thus, the ability to access sequencing technology through service providers remains a constant restraint to the potential customer base.

Nevertheless, next-generation sequencing remains a major growth area for life science tool vendors, including those providing sequencers, ancillary instrumentation, reagents and software. In order to succeed, platform providers must continue to improve their instruments and provide upgrades on an annual basis in the short term, and establish innovative R&D efforts to develop third-generation platforms for the long term. Several providers are looking for M&A and partnerships to secure their future success in the sequencing market.

"In this fast-paced and rapidly growing market, mergers, acquisitions and partnerships continue to shake up competitive dynamics," said Bird. "With the threat of a new technology making older systems obsolete, current suppliers are stepping up efforts to secure their future competitiveness through M&A and strategic partnerships while also pursuing aggressive R&D strategies."

Strategic Analysis of the U.S. Next Generation Sequencing Markets is part of the Life Sciences Growth Partnership Service program, which also includes research in the following markets: U.S. Epigenetics Markets, U.S. MicroRNA Markets, U.S. Nucleic Acid Purification and Isolation Markets, and Strategic Analysis of U.S. MicroRNA Services Markets. All research services included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.

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Strategic Analysis of the U.S. Next Generation Sequencing Markets

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Contact:
Britni Myers
Corporate Communications - North America
P: +1-210-477-8481
F: +1-210-348-1003
E: britni.myers@frost.com

http://www.frost.com