How will microfluidics applications change the material mix?

FRANCE: Yole Développement, announced its new technology and market analysis: Microfluidic applications in the pharmaceutical, life sciences, in vitro diagnostic and medical device markets.

With this report, Yole Développement proposes you to learn more about the microfluidic devices market. “The microfluidic device market will grow swiftly, from $1.4 billion in 2013 to $5.7 billion by 2018”, announced Benjamin Roussel, Technology & Market Analyst, Microfluidics & Medical Technologies at Yole Développement. According to him, “This impressive 27 percent growth will be fueled mainly by pharmaceutical research and point-of-care applications”.

Microfluidic device market is expected to reach $5.7 billion by 2018!
Facing new challenges, the healthcare industry is currently moving toward personalized medicine. In this context, the line between traditional markets (pharmaceutical and in vitro diagnostic markets) has blurred. More than ever, rapid, accurate tests are needed to increase pharmaceutical research yield and better monitor/cure patients.

By offering innovative solutions, microfluidic technologies have successfully managed to fill the gap. This new Yole Développement report provides a complete analysis of microfluidic device markets and technologies. Based on an accurate investigation of the last three years’ events, this report consolidates market data from 2010 - 2012 and provides forecasts for 2013 - 2018.

Microfluidic devices can be produced either by pure microfluidics fabs or in-house by fully integrated players. After revealing the top 15 pure microfluidic fab players, the report looks at the “hidden” market linked to in-house production.

These microfluidic devices can either be used directly for some applications (analytical devices, flow chemistry, etc.) or must be completed by reagents/biological content. The distinction between the microfluidic device market (first-level package device) and the microfluidic technology-based test market has also been calculated.

Discover microfluidic market’s complex organization, broken down in nine segments
Today, microfluidic devices are widely accepted in several applications. Nevertheless, the advantages and motivations for adopting microfluidic technologies are highly-dependent on the targeted application. For example, the added value of microfluidic devices in point-of-care applications depends on the associated small volume of necessary reagents, low-cost disposables and high sensibility. Contrarily, the advantages for pharmaceutical research applications are to allow process automation and multiplexed assays.

This report provides a market segmentation covering the following applications: general dispensing - drug delivery - accurate dispensing - analytical devices - clinical and veterinary diagnostics - point-of-care testing - industrial and environmental testing - pharmaceutical and life science - microreaction technology.

Each application is presented with market data, trends/drivers, key players and technologies used.

Recent changes in the material mix provide new opportunities for polymer and silicon
Different materials are used to manufacture microfluidic devices: glass, polymer, silicon, metal and ceramics.

Whereas polymer is becoming the reference substrate for point-of-care applications, glass is still the main substrate for analytical devices. The penetration rate of each substrate vs. Microfluidic application is presented in this report.

Recently, the material mix has changed due to:
* The need to reduce device cost for some applications (i.e. switching from glass to polymer).
* The need to add new on-chip functions linked to emerging applications (i.e. growth of silicon use).

Material mix changes present exciting opportunities for new players entering the microfluidic market. For example, the high growth rate of next-generation sequencing technologies is opening new doors for silicon players.