The global lateral flow assay market is poised to grow at a CAGR of 8.3% from 2015 to 2020. The rising geriatric population, high prevalence of infectious diseases, rising usage of home-based lateral flow assay tests, and growing focus on decentralized or point-of-care diagnostic testing are the major factors fueling the growth of the lateral flow assay market. Moreover, the rising focus on the development of safer and faster diagnostic methods and increasing application of lateral flow assay techniques in clinical diagnostics are the other major factors supporting the growth of the lateral flow assay market.
Clinical/point-of-care testing accounted for the largest share of the global lateral flow assay applications market in 2014. The large share of this segment can majorly be attributed to the increasing population, growing prevalence of chronic diseases across the globe, rising pressure on healthcare delivery systems to provide cost-effective care, and increasing demand for patient-centric care. The kits & reagents segment commanded the largest share of the global lateral flow assay market, by product in 2014. The significant increase in the volume of OTC pregnancy tests, and improved focus on decentralized or point-of-care diagnostic testing are expected increase the demand for this product segment. The sandwich assay segment dominated the lateral flow assay market, by technique in 2014. Owing to higher sensitivity and specificity for larger analytes, rapid results and wide application in various clinical testing methods sandwich assay is a preferred technique used by lateral flow assay products manufactures across globe.
In 2014, the global lateral flow assay market was dominated by North America and this trend is expected to continue during the forecast period of 2015 to 2020. The large share of this region is primarily attributed to the highly developed healthcare system, aging population, increasing incidence of chronic diseases, immense application scope, and presence of a large number of lateral flow assay product manufacturing companies in this region.
During the forecast period, a majority of the growth in the global lateral flow assay market will be driven by the growing health awareness; increasing adoption of home-based lateral flow assay tests; and increasing scope in the Asian market, especially in China and India. In the Asia-Pacific region, in addition to China and India, countries like Singapore and Malaysia are also witnessing rapid technological growth. This is expected to boost the growth of the Asia-Pacific lateral flow assay market in the coming years.
