GLOBAL SEQUENCING CONSUMABLES MARKET SIZE AND SHARE ANALYSIS - GROWTH TRENDS AND FORECASTS (2023 - 2030)

Market Challenges And Opportunities

Global Sequencing Consumables Market- Drivers

• Rising investments in genomics and pharmaceutical R&D: The sequencing consumables market has seen tremendous growth over the past few years owing to significant increases in funding directed towards genomics and pharmaceutical research and development. Next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have advanced rapidly and become more affordable, fueling greater adoption across biotech and pharmaceutical applications. As sequencing capabilities expand to tackle more complex questions in areas such as precision medicine, crop improvement, and disease research, demand is surging for the enzymes, reagents, and other chemicals needed to power sequencing workflows. This rising R&D investment shows no signs of slowing. For example, according to data from the National Institutes of Health, funding for genomics research jumped from $5.1 billion in 2020 to over $6 billion in 2022. A similar trend is seen globally as countries focus funding priorities on precision healthcare and treatments tailored to an individual's genetic code. This infusion of capital is allowing scientists to pursue sequencing-based projects on a larger scale than ever before, fundamentally accelerating our understanding of health and disease.
• Growing applications of NGS in precision medicine and diagnostics: With the increasing adoption of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) in precision medicine and diagnostics, the demand for sequencing consumables is growing steadily. NGS allows analysis of entire genomes and gene expression profiles, enabling customized treatment options based on individual genetics. This is empowering healthcare providers to deliver targeted and more effective therapies. As NGS becomes integrated into clinical decision making, it is revolutionizing how diseases like cancer are diagnosed and treated. Pharmaceutical companies are leveraging the vast amounts of genomic and biological data generated through NGS to develop precision drugs. Through biomarker analysis of a patient's genetic profile, doctors can select the treatment approach most likely to be effective. This reduces trial-and-error and speeds up discovery of new medicines. Several drugmakers currently offer companion diagnostics along with personalized therapies that are tailored for specific mutations, genetic expressions or protein biomarkers. For example, AstraZeneca developed tagrisso, a drug to treat non-small cell lung cancer caused by mutations in EGFR gene. As precision medicine grows in applications, healthcare systems and clinical labs are increasingly relying on NGS as a primary diagnostic technique. According to a report by National Human Genome Research Institute, around 75% of labs in the U.S. currently use NGS for patient care. This increasing clinical adoption will boost the demand for sequencing consumables like prepared libraries, sequencing kits and reagents. Pharmaceutical and biotech firms are also investing heavily to establish genomic biobanks and sequencing centers to gather genetic data to aid future research. This is expected to further fuel the ongoing expansion of the global sequencing consumables market in the coming years.
• Technological advancements in sequencing platforms: Technological advancements in genome sequencing platforms are fueling the growth of the global sequencing consumables market. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms have become more high-throughput, accurate, and affordable in recent years. The development of portable and easy-to-use sequencing devices have made DNA sequencing accessible to wider biomedical research community. This has significantly increased the demand for sequencing consumables like sample preparation kits, reagents and chips required for sample extraction, library preparation and sequencing runs. Several strides have been made to automate workflow processes and reduce hands-on time. Many leading platform providers have developed integrated solutions with plug-and-play consumables that perform multiple steps from nuclei isolation to DNA library preparation. Such consumables kits tailored for specific NGS platforms have gained immense popularity. They offer reproducibility, reduce contamination risks and ensure compatibility with genetics analyzers. Researchers can now generate high quality sequencing data with minimal technical expertise through simplified, standardized consumable products. This drives repeated sales and keeps the consumables market well-stocked. Advances in long-read sequencing technologies are also opening up new horizons. Third-generation single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing supports applications like structural variation detection, de novo genome assembly and isoform sequencing which were not possible before. However, these technologies require specialized reagents, enzymes and preparatory kits. According to National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), the number of whole human genomes sequenced each year is expected to grow from hundreds in 2020 to tens of thousands by 2025. This will spur the demand for specialized sequencing consumables including single-cell/single-molecule workflow products.

Global Sequencing Consumables Market- Opportunities

• Cloud computing and cloud storage solutions for genomics data: Cloud computing and cloud storage solutions could open up huge opportunities in the global sequencing consumables market. With vast amounts of complex genomics data being generated every day through populations-scale sequencing projects, managing, analyzing and sharing this data effectively is a major challenge. Cloud-based platforms provide scalable and elastic data storage, advanced analytics tools as well as collaboration capabilities that are well-suited to address these challenges. National and international genome projects have petabytes of genomics data that requires storage, computing and collaboration over long periods of time. Cloud solutions ensure that this genomic big data is securely stored, accessible to authorized users globally and computations can be performed on-demand. For example, the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health aims to accelerate genomic medicine by facilitating international sharing and analysis of genomic and clinical data from millions of individuals while protecting privacy. Cloud-based data repositories and analytics platforms will be crucial to enable this vision.
• Growing genomics applications in agricultural industries: Genomics applications in agriculture holds tremendous potential as it can revolutionize food production methods and improve quality and yield. As the world population continues to grow rapidly, there is increasing demand for sustainable food production methods. Genomic sequencing technologies allow screening crops and livestock for desired genetic traits like drought and pest resistance, higher nutrition, longer shelf life etc. This helps farmers breed new crop varieties and animals that are more adaptable and resilient to changing climate. For example, genomic sequencing is being used to develop climate-ready wheat varieties in South Asia. Projects like Rapid Generation Advancement Facility (RGF) led by International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) uses molecular marker-assisted breeding to build drought and heat tolerance in wheat. As per CIMMYT data, new wheat lines developed through genomics are showing 15-30% higher yields compared to traditional varieties under water stress conditions in Bangladesh, India and Nepal. Application of genomics is also helping livestock farmers breed high quality dairy cows, disease resistant pigs and high yielding aquaculture species. For instance, genomic selection is helping breed disease resistant salmon with 20-30% better growth rate in Norway according to a 2020 study by Norwegian University of Life Sciences. This is improving sustainability and profitability of salmon farming industry.

Global Sequencing Consumables Market - Restraints

• High equipment costs: The high equipment costs are proving to be a major restraint for the growth of the global sequencing consumables market. Sequencing instruments require huge capital investments and their maintenance costs are also significant. Next-generation sequencing platforms can cost anywhere between US$100,000 to over US$1 million depending on the type and capabilities of the instrument. In addition to the upfront costs, laboratories must also budget for expensive consumables, reagents and other supplies that are needed to operate the instruments on a regular basis. A typical sequencing run may consume consumables worth US$1,000 or more. For many small to mid-sized research laboratories and testing facilities in developing countries, these high capital and operational expenditures associated with sequencing equipment pose severe financial challenges. The need to recover costs through high sample throughput places practical limitations on the kind of sequencing applications that can be supported. Complex whole genome sequencing projects involving many patient samples may not be financially viable on existing sequencing platforms. This discourages commercialization of sequencing for clinical diagnostics and precision medicine where the costs have to be within the means of healthcare systems and individual payers. Academic institutes and public health organizations in low and middle-income countries also find it difficult to set up sequencing facilities due to prohibitive expenses. For example, as of 2020, only three African countries (South Africa, Senegal and Nigeria) had established next-generation sequencing capabilities according to data from the African Society for Laboratory Medicine. The high capital requirements for sequencing tools have clearly hindered broader dissemination of genomic technologies on the continent.
• Shortage of skilled professionals: Shortage of skilled professionals is indeed posing a challenge for the growth of global sequencing consumables market. With sequencing technologies becoming more complex and advanced, there is a rising need for properly trained scientists, researchers and technicians who understand various aspects of sequencing workflows. However, training and skills development in the field of genomic sequencing and analysis has not kept pace with the rapid technological advancements. Most educational institutions and training programs are still focusing their curriculum on more traditional fields of biology and lack comprehensive courses that integrate both wet lab techniques as well hands-on experience with bioinformatics tools and data analysis methods that are core to modern sequencing technologies. While enrollment in microbiology, genetics and biotechnology courses is increasing over the years, there still exists a major gap between the number of graduates entering this domain and the talent required by industry, research institutes and healthcare facilities that are leveraging sequencing for diverse applications. Moreover, due to the highly technical and interdisciplinary nature of genomics workflows, professionals require continuous upskilling to stay abreast of new sequencing platforms, assay kits, target enrichment methods, cloud computing solutions and bioinformatics algorithms. However, opportunities for advanced training and certifications in these specialized areas remain limited. Regional disparities further aggravate this shortage of skilled manpower in developing parts of the world. According to a recent report by the World Health Organization, Africa faces an acute deficit of over 200,000 diagnostic healthcare workers including specialists needed for genetic and genomic testing scale up programs. Unless concerted efforts are made by all stakeholders to boost workforce development programs globally, demand for sequencing consumables may outpace supply in the long run.