Asia Pacific HIV Diagnostics Market, by Product Type (Instruments and Reagents & Kits), by Test Type (Screening {Third Generation and Fourth Generation}, Differentiation & Confirmation Test, and Monitoring Test {CD4 Tests and Viral Load Tests}), by End User (Hospitals and Clinics, Diagnostic Laboratories, Home Care Settings, and Others), and by Country (China, Japan, South Korea, ASEAN, India, Australia, and Rest of Asia Pacific) is estimated to be valued at US$ 522.5 Million in 2022 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 12.4% during the forecast period (2022-2030), as highlighted in a new report published by Coherent Market Insights.
Various healthcare regulatory bodies are focusing on HIV/AIDS, owing to its high epidemic burden. Several policies and strategic programs are undertaken to reduce HIV burden by offering comprehensive care, diagnosis, and treatment services. Increasing government initiatives to eliminate HIV infections aid pregnant women and infants to get screened for HIV. This is expected to boost demand for HIV diagnostics instruments during the forecast period. For instance, in April 2017, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, launched ‘Test and Treat Policy for HIV’ policy, which is expected to improve longevity and quality of life of those infected with HIV. Similarly, in 2017, Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka initiated the National HIV/STI Strategic Plan (NSP) Sri Lanka 2018 – 2022. This strategic plan includes five objectives, which will supports NSP’s vision to make ‘Country free of new HIV infections, discrimination, and AIDS related deaths’.
Asia Pacific HIV Diagnostics Market – Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns in various countries across the globe have impacted the financial status of businesses across all sectors, including the private healthcare sector. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the entire supply chain of the healthcare industry, mainly due to strict lockdown in several regions. Private healthcare is one such sector that has been impacted significantly by the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the Asia Pacific HIV diagnostics market, owing to decrease in research and development activities to diagnose and treat HIV. For instance, according to the data published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many have been concerned that people with HIV (PWH) might encounter a more severe course of COVID-19 than the people without HIV due to the impaired inflammatory cell responses in PWH, leading to more complications and death. In PWH, barriers such as mental illness, drug abuse, homelessness, and alcohol consumption have increased the risk of COVID-19 infection and negatively impacted access to healthcare. The COVID-19 pandemic could have major adverse effects on the provision of health services for other major infectious diseases in low-income and middle-income countries. The researchers and clinicians were focused on developing the vaccines for the prevention of coronavirus. The COVID-19 pandemic kept the pathology laboratories engaged in the diagnosis and testing of the patients infected with coronavirus. The second pandemic wave in May 2021 was associated with a larger drop in utilization among MSM than PWID. Declines in both waves were statistically significant for MSM and PWID.
Asia Pacific HIV Diagnostics Market: Key Developments
In July 2022, India's government has took initiative to bring up its own testing kit for HIV. Three companies -- Ahmedabad-based Cadila Pharmaceuticals, Delhi-based firms ACE Diagnostics and J Mitra & Co are launched in July indigenously developed HIV diagnostics kits in the domestic market. The companies have scaled-up the technologies they had bought from public sector research institutes and have sought the approval of the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to commence commercial production. The kits - a peptide-based kit for Elisa test (from ACE), an immuno-western blot (J Mitra) and a recombinant chimeric reagent (Cadila Pharma) - would bring down the cost of HIV tests in the country by more than 200 per cent, sources said. The government being the major buyer of HIV kits through the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO), the companies have already approached the Union health ministry for signing a purchase agreement. The ministry is understood to be of the view that National Aids Control Organization, a division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India could restrict the buying to Indian firms once the technologies are validated.