Market for Worldwide Point-of-Care Diagnostics to Surpass $16 Billion by 2010

New York, December 8, 2006 — Overwhelming demand for the decentralized availability of diagnostic tests coupled with ongoing advances in technology will continue to drive the global market for point-of-care diagnostics well beyond $16 billion by 2010, according to new market research from Kalorama Information.

Growth is largely related to significant increases in glucose self-testing and various professional test segments including critical care and cardiac markers, according to the findings in Worldwide Point-of- Care Testing: Are Decentralized Clinical Diagnostics a Cost Drain or Revenue Driver? 2005 revenues for combined OTC and professional applications of POC testing generated company revenues of more than $11 billion, with revenues expected to increase by 8% annually—a conservative estimate according to the report.

As the largest single market for IVD and POC products, the U.S.—accounting for 55% of the world market—has an enormous impact on how the rapid test industry develops. Managed care’s obsession with cost reductions is pushing the need for nearer the patient and decentralized testing in the home and in physician offices. At 35% of the market, Europe’s usage of POC tests has been growing at a faster pace than the U.S., and opportunities are evolving in emerging markets, such as South America, Eastern Europe, and parts of Asia and Africa.

“As global technologies advance, a key to effective POC testing programs is the ability to link POC devices with centralized management stations and a healthcare system's primary information system,” notes Shara Rosen, the report’s author. “This connectivity challenge has mostly been met. However, in the hospital-based setting, the correlation between POC and lab-based results is weak, and other issues are causing acceptance barriers. There appears to be consensus that across all applications faster, more sensitive, less expensive, and more user-friendly tests should help produce better market penetration.”

An in-depth look into the global markets, technologies, and trends in decentralized testing, Worldwide Point of Care also includes economic factors influencing POC testing and provides company briefs on active POC manufacturers. It is available from Kalorama Information by visiting http://www.kaloramainformation.com/pub/1362425.html. It is also available at MarketResearch.com.

About Kalorama Information
Kalorama Information, a division of MarketResearch.com, supplies the latest in independent market research for the life sciences. For more information, contact Tom Ehart at 240-747-3014 or tehart@marketresearch.com, or visit www.KaloramaInformation.com.