Pregnancy testing devices are medical devices that help in identifying the possibility of pregnancy. Pregnancy testing devices analyze the samples of women’s blood or urine for the presence of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG). The device detects tiny amount of HCG, a female pregnancy hormone that increases during early stages of pregnancy in female body. The urine pregnancy test kit provides qualitative results i.e. positive or negative. It contains the test strip, which is directly exposed to the potential women’s urine. The blood test kit is the most sensitive pregnancy test. The test allows the clinician to detect exact levels of HCG in women’s blood, which is based on HCG molecules bound on the test strip.

Global Pregnancy Testing Device Market Drivers

Rise in demand for the fast, self-contained tests results, growing age of first pregnancy, continuous technological advancement, and attractive product features such as smartphone app connectivity in pregnancy test device are likely to drive growth of global pregnancy test device market over the forecast period. Moreover, growing awareness regarding the availability of pregnancy testing devices and utilization of self-detection pregnancy device, increased healthcare expenditure, rise in disposable income, and increase in prevalence of teenage pregnancy also stimulate the market growth. In April 2015, Abbott Laboratories received the U.S. FDA approval for its I-STAT TOTAL HCG test for rapid and accurate detection of HCG hormone in pregnant women.

Moreover, as compared to lab tests, which are more time consuming and expensive, pregnancy testing devices provides fast results in less expense. However, the accuracy of pregnancy test device is less than the lab tests. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2015, there were 40% cases of unintended pregnancy and 10% cases of teenage pregnancy. Rise in unintended pregnancies is expected to create the demand for the pregnancy testing devices. For instance, according to Lancet Global Health, study conducted in 2015, 70 unintended pregnancies per 1000 women between age group 15-49 years occurs in India.

Moreover, various novel devices are launched considering women’s health and hygiene, which are expected to facilitate market growth. For instance, in 2019, Deep Bajaj, Founder of PeeBuddy, India’s first design patent protected female urination device, launched the paper based pregnancy test PregRX. With PregRX, women can simply pee and instantly check their pregnancy status.

However, due to availability of too many options in the market and device-related issues can hinder growth of global pregnancy testing device market.

Global Pregnancy Testing Device Market - Regional Insights

North America holds dominant position in the global pregnancy testing device market, owing to high healthcare expenditure and awareness programs taken by companies regarding the effective usage of pregnancy testing devices. For instance, in December 2017, Lia diagnostics, U.S., developed a flushable pregnancy test that is made from sustainable biodegradable materials. The company claims that this pregnancy kit will be available over the counter and is the world’s first and only flushable, biodegradable pregnancy test. Europe is expected to witness higher growth rate in the forecast period, owing to high adoption of digital pregnancy detecting device over the forecast period. Latin America is also an emerging market, owing to the increasing awareness regarding benefits of pregnancy detection in early stage and affordability of pregnancy detection kits.

Global Pregnancy Testing Device Market - Competitive Landscape

Some of the key players operating in the global pregnancy testing device market include Piramal Enterprises, Alere Inc., Prestige Brands Holdings Inc., Quidel Corporation., Procter and Gamble Co., Cardinal Health, and Confirm Biosciences.

Pregnancy Testing Device Market - Market Taxonomy

On the basis of test type, the global pregnancy testing device market is segmented into: