Market Trends of Clinical Laboratory Services Industry
Independent and Reference Laboratories Segment is Expected to Register Healthy Growth Over the Forecast Period
In highly populated and developing countries like India and China, where a significant share of the population does not have access to proper medical diagnostic facilities, there is a huge opportunity for independent laboratories to thrive in the market studied, as they can fill the wide gap of clinical service providers in these regions. Hence, the number of independent laboratories is increasing. For instance, according to the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) of India, around 6,200 NABL-accredited medical labs were present, which increased to 6,975 by March 2022 owing to the surge in demand for these facilities all over the country.
The independent laboratory segment is experiencing huge consolidation as players focus on strategic partnerships and collaborations, which are likely to drive the market's growth. For instance, in November 2022, GC Labs signed a new contract with a global partner in Thailand, marking its ongoing commitment to building a strong diagnostics network in Southeast Asia. With this partnership, GC labs planned to expand its market share across Southeast Asia. Therefore, all these developments are fueling growth in the segment studied as well as the overall clinical laboratory services market.
North America is Expected to Dominate the Clinical Laboratory Services Market Over the Forecast Period
The major factor driving the growth of the North American clinical laboratory services market is the presence of key players and government organizations in the country, which creates awareness among the general population and allows them to access services conveniently. For instance, the American Clinical Laboratory Association is a not-for-profit organization that offers members the benefits of representation, education, information, and research.
The high burden of the target and chronic diseases in the region and increasing demand for early diagnostics are the other major factors that are driving the growth of the market studied in the North American region. For instance, according to the Canadian Cancer Society's 2021 report, about 229,200 new cancer cases were diagnosed in Canada in 2021. On average, 628 Canadians are diagnosed with cancer every day, which is further expected to increase in the future. Also, as per the same report, lung, breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer are the most diagnosed types of cancer in Canada (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer).
Further, with the COVID-19 pandemic, many established and new players in the market expanded their diagnostics capacity owing to the huge surge in demand, augmenting the growth of the market studied in the region. For instance, in February 2021, Omega Corporation announced the expansion of its clinical laboratory operations in Canada with the launch of a polymerase chain reaction test to detect all variants of COVID-19.
The presence of key market players in the country, acquisitions, and partnerships, along with the new launches, are further expected to complement the growth of the clinical laboratory services market in the country. For instance, in August 2022, Labcorp, a leading global life sciences company, announced that it had closed the acquisition of RWJBarnabas Health's outreach laboratory business and select related assets. RWJBarnabas Health is New Jersey's largest academic health system. Therefore, due to the above-mentioned factors, the North American region is expected to hold a major market share in the market studied over the forecast period of the study.
