Market Challenges And Opportunities

Global Animal Biotechnology Market- Drivers

Increasing Demand for Animal Protein: With the growing global population, the demand for animal protein is rising rapidly across both developed and developing countries. As incomes rise worldwide, people are consuming more meat, eggs and dairy products which is fueling the growth of the livestock industry. Meat consumption per capita has doubled globally over the past 50 years and it is expected to further increase significantly in coming decades. Developing regions like Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Africa are projected to account for over 70% of growth in global meat consumption due to urbanization and economic development in these areas. To meet the surging protein needs of burgeoning population worldwide, animal biotechnology tools and techniques are helping increase the production and productivity of livestock raised for meat, milk and eggs. Technologies like cloning, transgenic animals, genome editing, and genomic selection are allowing faster breeding of animals with desired characteristics of growth rate, disease resistance, and feed efficiency. This is enabling farmers to produce more animal proteins with fewer resources, less land, and in an environmentally sustainable way. The ever rising demand for livestock products is expected to drive the greater adoption of animal biotechnology methods in the coming years.
Advancements in Veterinary Care: With improving standards of living globally, people increasingly view their pets as companions and family members. This has resulted in greater spending on animal healthcare needs. At the same time, livestock production is becoming more intensive to meet the rising food demand from growing human population. However, crowding animals in confined spaces increases the risk of infectious diseases. Both these factors have led to increasing importance being given to veterinary care of pets and livestock. Advancements in animal biotechnology are improving disease management for both farm animals and companion animals. Technologies like vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutic cloning, and gene therapies are enhancing disease detection capabilities and treatment methods. For example, genetically-engineered vaccines are more effectively preventing infectious diseases affecting livestock productivity. Gene therapies hold promise to cure genetic diseases in companion animals in future. Biotechnology tools are also aiding in the rapid identification of pathogens during disease outbreak investigation. The growing importance of animal health is fueling investments in veterinary bioscience innovations. The market for animal biotechnology products and services is expanding rapidly driven by the need for advanced veterinary care solutions.
Advancements in Genetic Engineering Enable Tailored Breeding Traits: Rapid advancements in genetic engineering and gene editing technologies are another key driver for the animal biotechnology sector. Tools like Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases, and zinc finger nucleases allow scientists to precisely edit genes and breed animals with specific enhanced traits. New gene combinations that were not previously possible through conventional breeding can now be created. Animals are being engineered for traits like higher nutritional content, improved meat quality, faster growth rates, disease resistance, environmental adaptability, and others. The ability to finely tune desired breeding characteristics with precision genetic tools is driving innovation in animal agriculture. Livestock and aquaculture producers are adopting animal biotechnology to gain competitive advantages through genetically superior stock. The demand to breed healthier and more productive farm animals is propelling the animal biotechnology market growth.

Global Animal Biotechnology Market- Opportunities

Advancements in Genetic Engineering Drive the Gene Therapy Segment:

Gene therapy involves modifying genes or inserting new genes into an individual's cells and tissues to treat a disease. Researchers have made significant strides in developing gene therapies for various genetic disorders. For example, gene therapy techniques are increasingly being used to develop treatments for congenital blindness, hemophilia, immune deficiencies, and cancer. The rising success rates of gene therapy clinical trials are bolstering the growth of this segment.

Additionally, growing private sector investments are propelling the research on advanced gene therapy applications. Many biotech startups are attracting funding to develop novel DNA and RNA therapies for genetic conditions. Government grants are also supporting academic research on next-generation precision gene editing tools like CRISPR-Cas9, which holds immense potential for treating inherited diseases. The segment is further aided by the increasing availability of genomic data that helps identify suitable gene targets for therapy.

Rising Healthcare Expenditure: One of the significant factors influencing the growth rate of the global animal biotechnology market is the growing healthcare expenditure, which helps in improving its infrastructure. For instance, according to the International Health Care System of the U.S., in June 2020, U.S. government organizations aim to improve the healthcare infrastructure by increasing funding, setting legislation and national strategies, and co-founding, and setting basic requirements and regulations for the Medicaid program. Similarly, in November 2022, the Canadian Institute for Health Information reported that the total health spending in Canada was US$ 331 billion in 2022, or US$ 8,563 per Canadian, while health expenditure represented 12.2% of Canada's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022, following a high of 13.8% in 2020.
Demand of Diagnostic Tools Augment the Genetic Diagnostics: Genetic diagnostic tests play a crucial role in detecting genetic disorders, enabling clinicians to provide personalized treatments. The segment is undergoing transformations with the development of new genomic and proteomic diagnostic technologies. For instance, microarray technology and next-generation sequencing methods allow for high-throughput genetic analysis of multiple biomarkers simultaneously. This has significantly broadened the scope of conditions that can be evaluated with a single diagnostic test.

Moreover, minimally invasive liquid biopsy tests using cell-free DNA detection are revolutionizing cancer diagnostics and monitoring. Such advanced tests facilitate non-invasive tumor profiling for guiding targeted therapies. Similarly, rapid molecular testing kits allow for point-of-care diagnostics and faster clinical decisions. Growing preference for companion diagnostics that assist in therapeutic area selection is also fueling the demand. Collectively, the rising efficiency, accuracy, and affordability of diagnostic technologies are driving strong growth in this segment.

Global Animal Biotechnology Market - Restraints

Ethical Concerns Hamper Commercialization of Transgenic Animals: A major restrain hampering the wider adoption of animal biotechnology is ethical concerns around transgenic animal research and applications. While genetic engineering holds promise to solve problems related to food security and sustainability, some view transgenic animal technologies as unnatural and unethical. Issues involving animal welfare, environmental impact, food safety, and religious sensibilities arise when transgenic or cloned animals are considered for agriculture and human consumption. There are debates around subjecting animals to genetic modification without their consent. Questions are raised on the long-term effects on animal health, ecosystem balance, and unintended consequences of transgenic animals escaping into the wild. Stringent regulations are imposed in many countries to address ethical oversight and biosafety issues. All these ethical considerations raise entry barriers and limit commercialization potential for some advanced animal biotechnology applications.
High Development Costs Pose Challenge for Small Players: The high capital investment required for animal biotechnology research and development poses a major challenge, especially for small companies and startups. Establishing facilities, sourcing specialized equipment, hiring expert scientific workforce, and navigating the regulatory pathway makes animal biotech an expensive venture. Techniques like transgenic engineering, cloning, and gene editing require substantial financial resources for setting up the necessary biological safety infrastructure and carrying out multi-year validation studies. Even after successful product development, high marketing expenditure is inevitable to counter perceptions and gain public acceptance. The large multinational agricultural biotech corporations have deeper pockets to invest in long term research. However, the barriers to entry deter new entrants and limit innovation in animal biotechnology to mostly larger players who can bear the high development costs. This restrain stalls wider dissemination and commercial scaling up of promising new animal biotech innovations.