Promise of Multiple Benefits Underlines the Growing Popularity of Lab-on-chip and Microfluidics, Says Frost & Sullivan

LONDON, January 4 - Microfluidics and lab-on-chip is a field with tremendous growth
potential. As it is primarily an enabling technology, coupled with the fact
that this is an era of miniaturisation, which has already swept up the
information and communications industry, the life sciences industry has come
to realise its potential. Microelectronics provides striking opportunities
for advancing biomedical research and creating new markets for the medical
sciences industry.

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New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (www.drugdiscovery.frost.com),
European Lab-on-chip and Microfluidics Market, finds that the market earned
revenues of about US$666.3 million in 2008 and estimates this to reach about
US$1.62 billion in 2015, as this market is in the early growth stage with
tremendous potential for growth. The following applications are covered in
the research: genomics, proteomics, cell-based assays and clinical
diagnostics.

"The adoption of microfluidics by pharmaceuticals companies provides them
multiple benefits such as improved data quality, economical reagent
consumption and cost reduction, and acceleration of drug discovery processes
- ultimately shortening the time-to-market of a drug," notes Frost & Sullivan
Senior Research Analyst Rasika Ramachandran. "Microfluidics significantly
reduces the time and cost of producing large amounts of biological material,
such as proteins or enzymes for drug screening, by reducing the amount of
material needed. This helps drug development companies to cut down on the
initial expenses of drug development and, at the same time, gain speed in
bringing a drug into the market."

The lab-on-chip and microfluidics market for life sciences applications
is likely to experience double-digit growth cumulatively over the next seven
years. However, due to the global recession, this is unlikely to happen in
the next two years. During this stage, only single-digit growth can be
expected from the market.

The global recession is bound to affect the microfluidics and lab-on-chip
market in Europe as well as globally. This market requires capital
expenditure, and all major pharmaceutical companies - the key customers for
these instruments - are undertaking substantial cutbacks in capital spending.

"Revenues from new placements will be slim in the coming year or two due
to budget cut backs by the major pharmaceutical companies," states
Ramachandran. "Nevertheless, lab-on-chip companies that already have a
significant installed base will continue to enjoy small but consistent
revenue flows from the sale of consumables."

To experience improved revenue growth in the coming years, the market
needs to aggressively address technical challenges that are currently
hampering uptake. Market participants also need to address interoperability
concerns that keep pharmaceutical companies from readily including
lab-on-chip instruments in their existing workflows.

"Being a new technology that has to fit into an existing laboratory set
up, it is essential that lab-on-chip equipment is compatible with the
pre-existing robotics and automation lay-out of the lab," advises
Ramachandran. "Companies that meet these standards will achieve greater
success in attracting customers as pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies
are always looking for ways to cut costs and will not be willing to spend on
a new technology if it entitles more incidental expenses to accommodate a new
instrument; the instrument should be as easy to use as plug-and-play."

Currently, there is only limited cannibalisation among lab-on-chip and
microfluidics instruments providers for life sciences applications. However,
as the technology moves towards the mainstream in the next 5-7 years,
participants need to co-operate to keep the scenario at status quo, as there
is enough scope for everyone. The life sciences market is a multi-billion
dollar market with myriad applications and problems to be solved, thereby
presenting ample opportunities for all market participants.

If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides a brief
synopsis of the research and a table of contents, then send an e-mail to
Katja Feick, Corporate Communications, at katja.feick@frost.com, with your
full name, company name, title, telephone number, company e-mail address,
company website, city, state and country. Upon receipt of the above
information, a brief brochure will be sent to you by e-mail.

European Lab-on-chip and Microfluidics Market is part of the Drug
Discovery & Clinical Diagnostics Growth Partnership Services programme, which
also includes research in the following markets: Opportunities for the
European Mass Spectrometry Market in Basic Research Applications and European
Protein Purification Markets. All research services included in subscriptions
provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been
evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.

About Frost & Sullivan

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    European Lab-on-chip and Microfluidics Market
    M3C0

    Contact:
    Katja Feick
    Corporate Communications - Europe
    P: +49(0)69-7703343
    E: katja.feick@frost.com

www.frost.com

Katja Feick of Frost & Sullivan Corporate Communications - Europe, +49(0)69-7703343, katja.feick at frost.com