LIMS Industry Market Driven by Molecular Diagnostics

The market for laboratory information management (LIMS) systems will grow to nearly a USD 1.5 billion market in 2015, according to a report by healthcare market research firm Kalorama Information (New York, NY, USA). The report on Laboratory Information Systems (LIS/LIMS) claims that growth will be driven by the need for clinical diagnostic laboratories to handle larger amounts of data from molecular testing and sequencing. The report covers market information, including forecasts, company profiles, and trend analysis.

Laboratory information systems are data and information management systems designed for industrial and medical-related laboratories, including clinical and analytical laboratories. LIS and LIMS have evolved to become a necessity for both small and large diagnostic and drug company laboratories, to allow users to obtain, store, manage, retrieve, and record laboratory data. But data coming into the lab from patients regarding their medical history and previous tests through Emergency Medical Retrieval Services (EMRS) is becoming more complex and has to be merged with new data from current diagnostic tests.

“These systems are no longer merely convenient optional tools to be used in labs,” said Joe Constance, analyst and author of the report. “They are a necessary component of all modern laboratories that desire the combination of processing efficiency, quality assurance, and data validation that are required to be competitive.”

A LIMS traditionally processes data related to batches of samples from genetic, biology, drug development, and clinical trial laboratories. It processes data involving anonymous research-specific laboratory data. Advances in DNA and RNA sequencing technologies and the commercialization of next-generation sequencing instrumentation in recent years has made it possible to automate several steps of laboratory processes, leading to an increased throughput. Consequently, there has been an exponential growth of data generated, along with the evolution of more efficient and complicated procedures and processes in the lab.

The report also notes that some consolidation has occurred among LIS and LIMS vendors. For example, Accelrys, a lab informatics company, has essentially expanded into the LIMS market. Roper Industries acquired Sunquest Information Systems, which provides diagnostic and laboratory information systems to health care providers.

Kalorama Information, a division of MarketResearch.com, supplies the latest in independent medical market research in diagnostics, biotech, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and healthcare; as well as a full range of custom research services.

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