Microfluidics facilitate highly parallelized assays and increase throughput where a good level of spatiotemporal control is possible, which reduces the consumption and cost of precious fluids and biological and chemical assays. Microfluidics technology has numerous applications such as point of care testing, clinical diagnostics, drug delivery, and analytical testing. In analytical testing, microfluidics technology-based instruments and chips are used for the genomics, proteomics, and cell based analysis.
The global microfluidics market is estimated to account for US$ 3,800.4 Mn in terms of value in 2018 and is expected to reach US$ 12,927.6 Mn by the end of 2027.
Global Microfluidics Market: Drivers
Acceleration in the field of drug delivery is expected to boost growth of the global microfluidics market over the forecast period. Use of microfluidics in the development of drug delivery devices such as inhaler nozzles, micro-pumps, transdermal, and micro-needle arrays facilitates predictable and precise drug release. Moreover, the demand for transdermal microfluidic drug delivery platform has increased due to its painless delivery of drugs and its ability to be integrated with multifunctional systems.
Global Microfluidics Market: Opportunities
Stereolithography (SL) has the ability to fabricate microfluidic devices in a single step from a computer-generated model. R&D in SL is expected to offer lucrative growth opportunities for players in the market. For instance, in January 2020, researchers from Singapore University of Technology and Design reported development of a design approach that can improve the attainable channel dimensions and complexity of networks with existing SL.
Global Microfluidics Market: Restraints
Expensive and complex fabrication method is expected to hinder growth of the global microfluidics market. The microfluidics devices are fabricated from silicon and glass using clean-room techniques. Silicon is incompatible material with microscopy methods due to its opaque nature in visible and ultraviolent light. Glass and silicon are both brittle materials and have non-trivial bonding protocols for closing micro channels. Moreover, they require complex and expensive fabrication methods, which is expected to hinder the market growth over the forecast period.
Key Takeaways:
Ceramic material segment in the global microfluidics market was valued at US$ 1,447.4 Mn in 2018 and is expected to reach US$ 5,516.0 by 2027 at a CAGR of 16.0% during the forecast period. Ceramic material used for manufacturing of microfluidic chips offers several advantages such as simple fabrication process allowing for simple division of structure into multiple horizontal layers.
The point of care testing segment held dominant position in the global microfluidics market in 2018, accounting for 33.3% share in terms of value, followed by clinical diagnostics and analytical testing, respectively. Point of care diagnostics offer advantages such as rapid diagnosis, increased access to innovative diagnostic tests even in remote areas, time and cost saving, and wide variety of diseases can be tested, and diagnosed under minimum amount of time. Increasing prevalence of chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular conditions is expected to positively impact growth of segment due to increasing demand form patients for rapid diagnosis and treatment. Here, microfluidics could play an important role in cost effectiveness and resource optimization, as, diagnostic tests could be installed on small tests.
The in-vitro diagnostics segment held dominant position in the global microfluidics market in 2018, accounting for 32.2% share in terms of value, followed by life science research and pharmaceuticals, respectively. Rising prevalence of cancer and autoimmune diseases is expected to drive the global in-vitro diagnostics market. According to the American Diabetes Association 2016, an estimated 29.1 million Americans, contributing a total 9.3% of the population, had severe Type II diabetes, while around 1.25 million American children and adults having type 1 diabetes. Similarly, according to the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, 2017, multiple sclerosis autoimmune condition affects 2.5 million people with the global incidence of around 7 cases per 100,000 people per year. Microfluidics could play an important role in in-vitro diagnostics as it could reduce overall instruments and reagents needed for diagnostic tests and reducing costs.
Market Trends
Glass is also used in microfluidics manufacturing. This is owing good chemical, electrical, and physical properties of glass. For instance, IMT Technologies, a precision glass foundry, offers a microscope-slide-sized flow cell made of glass for next-generation sequencing.
Increasing adoption of microfluidics in digital media manufacturing is expected to boost growth of the market. For instance, in 2018, Technicolor presented a prototype chip at the Lab-on-a-Chip World Congress that can amplify a fluorescence signal eightfold by integrating optical diffractive lens technology into the chip.
Global Microfluidics Market: Competitive Landscape
Major players operating in the global microfluidics market include, Agilent Technologies, PerkinElmer Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Qiagen NV, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Fluidigm Corporation, Abbott Laboratories, and F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.
Global Microfluidics Market: Key Developments
Players in the market are also focused on raising funds to expand their product portfolio. For instance, in January 2020, Aspect Biosystems Inc. raised US$ 20 million in series A funding to help develop 3D bio-printer technology that uses the science of microfluidics to create fresh human tissue.
Major players in the market are focused on expanding their product portfolio. For instance, in February 2020, Sphere Fluidics, a developer of single cell analysis systems, invested in the production and supply of its proprietary biocompatible surfactant, Pico-Surf, for reliable and highly stable droplet generation and processing. The company is focused on expanding operations to meet demand for large-scale commercial supply of its high-performing surfactant for use in a wide range of microfluidic application workflows.
Segmentation
- By Material
- Polymer
- Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
- Non-polyvinyl Chloride
- Glass
- Silicon
- Metal
- Ceramics
- Polymer
- By Application
- Point of care testing
- Clinical Diagnostics
- Drug Delivery
- Analytical Testing
- Genomics
- Proteomics
- Cell based Analysis
- Others
- By Industry
- Pharmaceuticals
- In-vitro Diagnostics
- Environmental Research
- Life Science Research
- Clinical Diagnostics
- By Region
- North America
- Latin America
- Europe
- Asia Pacific
- Middle East
- Africa
