CELL SEPARATION MARKET Challenges and Opportunities

One of the key challenges faced by the global cell separation market is the high cost of cell separation equipment. Cell separation equipment utilizes advanced technological features such as magnetic microtube technology, fluorescence-activated cell sorting, centrifugation techniques, etc. to separate target cells from a mixed cell population based on their physical and chemical characteristics. However, developing and manufacturing equipment with such advanced capabilities is an expensive endeavor. This makes the final cost of the cell separation equipment prohibitive for many small-scale end users such as academic research laboratories and biotech startups. The high equipment prices restrict wider adoption of cell separation techniques, thereby hampering growth of the overall market. Moreover, due to high initial investment required, access to such advanced equipment remains limited in developing economies and emerging markets of the world.

Market Opportunity - Advancements in cell separation technologies

The global cell separation market is poised to gain significantly from ongoing advancements in cell separation technologies. Heavy investments by major players in development of novel technologies such as microfluidic-based cell separation, acoustic separation, and deterministic lateral displacement are expanding applications of cell separation. For instance, microfluidic lab-on-a-chip devices allow high resolution separation of rare tumor cells from blood with minimal sample volume requirements. Likewise, acoustic separation utilizes ultrasonic standing waves to separate cells by size without any labeling requirement. Continuous technological upgrades are further improving efficiency and automation of cell separation processes. This is increasing viability of applications like isolation of stem cells from cord blood and separation of T-cells for cancer immunotherapy.