Revenues from Molecular Cancer Testing Expected to Rise

Diagnostic tests for effective cancer screening are needed more than ever as cancer becomes more treatable. Growth rates in molecular cancer testing tend to be higher than in other in vitro diagnostic (IVD) fields.

Cancer tests based on detecting DNA changes and patterns will show above average revenue growth over other forms of testing, according to healthcare market research publisher Kalorama Information (Rockville, MD, USA). According to its report, molecular testing strategies are increasingly used by physicians, and revenues for manufacturers of molecular tests will grow 26% over the next five years.

As cancer becomes more treatable, diagnostics are finding multiple expanded roles, including pharmacodiagnostics for matching the targeted treatment to the patient and ongoing disease monitoring as treatable cancer enters the realm of the chronic disease. These tests are frequently commercialized as test services, a trend explored in the report.

At present, there are no more than 10-16 commercial molecular tests available, with 8 CE marked tests introduced in 2008 and 2009. Commercial cancer tests are available for B and T cell gene arrangement studies for lymphoma, Bcr/abl for leukemia, HER2 for breast cancer, human papillomavirus (HPV), septin for colon cancer, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations, and FLT3 mutations.

Kalorama estimates that the revenues for the molecular cancer-testing segment will reach $300 million in 2014. The market for these tests exists almost exclusively in North America and Europe.

Kalorama Information is a leading publisher of market research in medical markets, including the biotechnology, diagnostics, medical device, and pharmaceutic industries.

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