POC PLATFORM AND TECHNOLOGY MARKET ANALYSIS

Point-of-care (POC) testing has the ability to provide immediate blood gas and other critical care test findings to patients in close proximity. POC can result in faster therapeutic intervention, fewer preanalytical mistakes, and better patient care when appropriately integrated into the patient care process. However, to avoid errors while sample handling, test inaccuracy, nonlaboratorians training and ongoing competency assessment, and justification of the additional costs of analyzers and test units or cartridges, POC demands a higher level of oversight and quality control. The advantages of POC are also influenced by the number of tests performed and the distance between the patient's home and a clinical laboratory. POC allows for faster clinical decision-making in the areas of diagnosis, therapy selection and monitoring, and prognosis, as well as operational decision-making and resource usage.

The global POC Platform and Technology Market is estimated to be valued at US$ 31,841 million in 2021 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 8.9% over the forecast period (2021-2028).

Figure 1. Global POC Platform and Technology Market Share (%), By Application, 2021

The increasing focus on partnerships and collaborations by key players in order to strengthen their market presence in the global market is expected to drive growth of the global POC Platform and Technology Market over the forecast period.

For instance, in January 2018, Atomo Diagnostics, an Australian company, entered into a strategic collaboration with Access Bio, a company committed to the early diagnosis and prevention of infectious diseases. This partnership aims to enlarge access to best-in-class HIV rapid testing in global market.

Figure 2. Global POC Platform and Technology Market Share (%), By Region, 2021

The increasing acquisitions, mergers to promote research and development activities for the development of PCOT platform and technologies is expected to drive the market growth over the forecast period.

For instance, in March 2018, SenzaGen, focused on performing and selling state-of-the-art non-animal tests for assessing a substance’s allergenicity,  signed a key license agreement with Burlesson Research Technologies, Inc., (BRT) a contract research organization in the U.S., specializing in POC toxicology devices.

The increasing product launches and approvals are expected to drive the market growth over the forecast period.

For instance, in December 2020, Abbott Laboratories, a U.S. based multinational medical devices and health care company, received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for virtually guided BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card rapid test for COVID-19 infection detection. It is affordable, reliable, and rapid testing method.

Global POC Platform and Technology Market– Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown in various countries across the globe has negatively impacted the financial status of businesses across all sectors. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the entire supply chain of the healthcare industry mainly due to strict lockdown in several regions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the POC market due to the increasing focus on making next-generation devices for virus detection. Standard RT-PCR procedures are time consuming as well as highly dependent on well-trained staff, equipped laboratories, and expensive equipment. POC devices accelerated the market a few months after the first COVID-19 RT-PCR tests entered into the market in order to address the issues associated with standard RT-PCR procedures approach. The demand for POC devices has raised due to pandemic and manufacturing companies are competing to develop advanced POC platforms more reliable, rapid, and easier.

Global POC Platform and Technology Market Restraint

The point-of-care technologies employs numerous methodologies that vary in terms of interfaces to test methods that are actually employed in centralized laboratories. Comparison among the results exhibited by POC tests and manual laboratory tests often show variations that questions the accuracy and reliability of point-of-care platform and technology. The calibration of these tests also vary from one device to other. Thus, just as the test results may not be consistent from one laboratory to another, there may be variation in the data obtained through the use of different devices making it difficult for the healthcare professionals to make an important clinical decision. Moreover, transportation of biomaterials in cold chain is expensive in the resource-constrained settings, thus significantly increasing the assay cost and decreasing the adoption of the POC tests, as cold chain storage rarely practical in the under developed countries such sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, the limited shelf life of the reagents is a prominent restraining factor.

Key Players

Major players operating in the global POC Platform and Technology Market include Advanced Liquid Logic, Inc., Agilent Technologies, Axxicon Moulds Eindhoven B.V., Lifesensors, Inc., Abbott Laboratories, Seimens Healthineers AG, LifeScan, Inc., Atomo Diagnostics, SenzaGen, Exalenz Biosciences Ltd., Nanomedical Diagnostics, BGN Technologies, Mesa Biotech Inc., and Millar, Inc.