Veterinary Diagnostics Revenue Increasing Faster Than Overall IVD

Veterinary diagnostics, at nearly USD 2 billion dollars, represent a supplementary but increasingly attractive course of market development for companies active in the USD 55 billion in vitro diagnostics (IVD) sector.

The findings were published in a new report by Kalorama Information (New York, NY, USA). Analyst Emil Salazar, explained that companies entering the veterinary diagnostics market benefit from lower regulatory demands, ready applications of medical diagnostic product platforms, and generally greater opportunities for revenue growth.

According to Emil Salazar, the past year visited the US IVD market with rigid cuts in lab test reimbursements and a regulatory rollout of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that did little to instill industry confidence. Cost drivers in medical spending were able to only in part offset such market disturbances, and generate national IVD market growth of around 3%. Quietly outperforming its larger sister market, the US veterinary diagnostics market grew by about 5% in 2013.

Metrics refer to a company's Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA). A metric can be used to show a company's profitability, but not its cash flow, EBITDA, earnings per share, or any other financial measures. Several metrics support the projection of veterinary diagnostics market growth: veterinary lab testing service revenue, rapid assay sales, and veterinary lab requisition volumes under leaders IDEXX (Westbrook, MN, USA) and VCA Antech (Los Angeles, CA, USA). Trends in these metrics reflect the base conditions in demand for veterinary testing by also excluding companies’ sales or placements of capital instrumentation at veterinary practices.

The fundaments of the veterinary diagnostics market in the United States were tested by a severe decline in consumer spending on pets during the economic recession. Typically a growth sector, veterinary practices were challenged for growth between 2009 and 2011. Subsequent recovery in the economy and consumer confidence reversed the fortunes of the veterinary care industry, and saw renewed, consistent growth in the veterinary diagnostics market.

The US market for pet care products and veterinary services is dependent upon a customer base of upper middle-income to affluent pet owners. "The recovery of the veterinary services market in recent years was aided in large part by the increasing role of higher income households, who are also more likely to pay for consistent and new vet lab testing," explained Emil Salazar. While veterinary office visits may rise only slightly (or even fall) in some years, test costs are increasing substantially with greater product complexity and growing reliance on IVD products during episodes of veterinary care.

"Future veterinary diagnostics market growth will depend upon the development of markets for more sophisticated products such as molecular diagnostic tests and increasing testing intensity as instrument placements decline in saturated markets," Emil Salazar said.

Kalorama Information’s report, The World Market for Veterinary Diagnostics, provides more information including breakouts for various segments of veterinary diagnostics, and discussions of trends in the industry. Profiles of key competitors are also included.

Related Links:
Kalorama Information
IDEXX
VCA Antech