Next Generation Sequencing Market: Trends And Global Outlook

Deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA is called the blueprint of life, as it is a complex molecule that essentially contains the genetic instructions for other cells regarding development and functioning. All known forms of cellular life contain DNA, and even certain viruses and the DNA holds critical information regarding the organism from which it has been taken. The technology of DNA sequencing involves determining the order of the nucleotides that are present in the specific DNA in the nucleic acid sequence.

DNA sequencing has proved invaluable for biological research, biotechnology, medical diagnosis, virology, biological systematics, and forensic biology. By analyzing the DNA, doctors can make confirmed diagnoses of genetic disorders and even cancers, design targeted medical treatment, and examine the impact of treatment on the DNA. Next generation sequencing (NGS) is the technology and method of conducting DNA sequencing using massive parallel or deep sequencing technologies at the same time. While the earlier Sanger sequencing method for DNA sequencing took nearly 10 years to map a human genome, using NGS, a human genome can be sequenced in 1 day.

Next Generation Sequencing Market Trends

The global next generation sequencing market is expected to have massive growth with a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 19.5-20 percent till 2022, driven by increased demands from various applications of the NGS clinical market and rise in the number of governmental genome projects. Although hospitals and clinics currently account for a minimal share in the NGS market, they are expected to be the fastest-growing segments. There are numerous trends that are making their impact on the NGS market.

• The use of NGS technology drastically cuts down the time taken for DNA sequencing and with reduced costs of NGS sequencers, the services are now being used more commonly in clinical diagnosis and by a variety of other end-user markets. In diagnostics, NGS has been found useful in identifying cancer, infectious diseases and predictive biomarkers in addition to genetic disorders. The clinical applications of NGS services are growing; however, research and academia maintain major segments in the end-user market. Pharmaceuticals are another industry that is making use of NGS services, to develop more patient-specific treatment protocols.

• Outsourcing is a major trend in the NGS market, with around 60 percent of NGS services being outsourced. Due to the high costs of infrastructure, the requirement for trained experts and advanced technology used, it’s more cost-effective for industries to outsource the services to specialized service providers. While certain suppliers offer complete end-to-end NGS service solutions with integration with IT firms for data analysis, others simply conduct the NGS sequencing and the data is then analyzed by separate experts. Since the data accrued by NGS sequencers is massive, an expert is required for interpretation. Downsizing of pharmaceutical and biotech firms is further increasing the popularity of outsourcing NGS services, which provides access to the latest forms of NGS technology without major investments in infrastructure.
• Diversification of NGS platforms and services is another trend further driving the growth of the market, as now NGS services can be used in a more targeted manner, to fit the needs of specific experiments of the concerned industry. Popular NGS services include DNA whole genome sequencing, exome sequencing, plasmid sequencing, amplicon sequencing, and RNA sequencing.
• The NGS technology market does face certain challenges that are restricting the growth of the market. A major challenge is the lack of skilled labor. Considering that NGS is a relatively new market and it involves the use of advanced technology, finding skilled professionals to manage the sequencing is difficult. Another set of professionals is required to make sense of the large amounts of data that are unearthed from NGS. Another challenge is the costs involved, as even though the costs have reduced from earlier forms of DNA sequencing, NGS is still expensive. Standardization of NGS services and data is another difficulty that poses a challenge to the sharing and integration of data.   

Next Generation Sequencing Market Global Outlook

At a global level, North America constitutes the single largest market for NGS services, followed by Europe, while emerging markets include India and China. The NGS market in North America is driven by the prevalence of cancer and other chronic diseases, and the decreasing costs of NGS services, making it more affordable for research. The emerging regions in the Asia Pacific, such as India and China, are expected to witness rapid growth in the NGS market, driven by an increase in investments, aging populations, and government projects.

The most preferred engagement model is project-based and preferred partnership, although strategic partnerships model is also available. In terms of pricing, the most popular model is Fixed Unit Price and FFS, while alternate models include Project-based, FTE, Time and Materials. Top global suppliers include Thermo Fisher, Illumina, SeqWright, Eurofins, Genewiz, Takara Bio, and Pacific Biosciences.

Next generation sequencing technology has made it feasible to conduct DNA sequencing in an efficient, timely and cost-effective manner, unlocking immense potential for research and practical applications based on DNA knowledge. Due to costs involved and the requirement of specialized knowledge, many industries outsource NGS services, through which they can also avail of diverse platforms. The global outlook is positive for the NGS market, which is predicted to have double-digit growth in the coming years.