This year will be pivotal for many diagnostic companies as they try to navigate the ongoing supply chain issues and the upcoming recession, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
2023 will be an interesting year to watch as it marks the second year of recovery following the breakout of the pandemic and there will be a continued drop in COVID-19 testing and a steady increase in multiparameter respiratory tests as testing has been integrated into many people’s lives due to the pandemic.
According to GlobalData, there will also be a shift towards the production of rapid tests and home-testing kits that can be used by the public and a focus on point-of-care (POC) tests as opposed to laboratory tests. Lastly, many companies are investing in liquid biopsy platforms, improved solid tissue and blood-based tests, and other cancer tests to improve cancer testing specificity, decrease invasive procedures for testing, and build ‘smart’ platforms to improve diagnosis and treatment accuracy.
Selena Yu, Medical Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Large diagnostic companies like Labcorp, Danaher, Abbot, and BD made statements on the significant drop in sales of COVID-19 tests and related products in 2022. Danaher is even restructuring how it reports COVID-19-related revenue so that it does not impact reporting of its core revenue. These shifts in behaviour are indicative of a shrinking COVID-19 market. Therefore, many of these companies are shifting their R&D towards developing POC tests and over-the-counter tests to not only decrease turnover time on test results but also to cater to more individuals who are interested in getting involved in their own healthcare.”
Moreover, many companies, like Guardant Health, Exact Sciences, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Labcorp revealed interest in expanding their oncology offerings. Guardant Health is developing a ‘smart’ liquid biopsy platform with an expectation to integrate the diagnosis of cancer with genomics and epigenomic data. Thermo Fisher Scientific recently acquired The Binding Site Group, a specialty diagnostic company for blood cancers and immune system disorders.
Yu continues: “Since cancer is incredibly variable, there are growing efforts for early diagnosis, create better treatment plans, and deploy enhanced preventive measures in healthcare systems. 2023 will be an important year for diagnostic companies as they try to find footing in a post-COVID-19 era and diversify their offers during an economically challenging time.”