On company's activities

Real-time instruments account for approximately 70 percent of the thermal cyclers' revenue of the company, of which 30 percent is generated from the sale of conventional thermal cyclers and associated reagents. Labindia conducted two successful marketing campaigns, one based on bundling of reagents with instruments and the other involving different types of incentives for thermal cycler purchase. Both campaigns exceeded expectations and are being implemented again this year.

On market trends

The conventional as well as real-time thermal cycler product lines performed very well for Labindia in 2009. The growth rate of the conventional thermal cycler product line exceeded 15 percent. We also placed several real-time instruments around the country in the second half of the year in pathogen detection and government surveillance laboratories, essentially capturing the market for swine flu detection in human samples. This provided a significant boost to revenues from real-time thermal cyclers resulting in a growth rate that exceeded 20 percent. We expect that this trend will continue for both product lines in 2010.

On key driving factors

Major factor driving the thermal cycler market is rising government funding for basic research. This has allowed government-funded universities and research laboratories to purchase high-end capital equipment. Furthermore, molecular biology laboratories in universities and colleges have started to invest in multiple PCR machines. The traditional thermal cycler market is also being driven by the increasing use of PCR in clinical and diagnostic laboratories for prognostic and diagnostic tests.

Real-time thermal cycler revenue growth is being driven by an overall trend where basic research laboratories, which had been using traditional PCR till recently, are switching to real-time methods. Furthermore, real-time thermal cycler revenues are also being driven by growth in the applied markets which in India mainly involves human identification/forensic testing and food testing.

On total installation base

We estimate the total installation base for real-time thermal cyclers to be greater than 450 units, of which, our share exceeds 50 percent making us the largest supplier of real-time thermal cyclers in India.

On emerging trends and new technologies

Multiple programmable zones in the same block enabling multiple experimental parameters in the same run, LCD touch-screen feature, individual user accounts, USB ports for uploading and downloading protocols, lower reaction volumes, and networking features to link several machines thus increasing sample throughput are some of the advancements observed in traditional PCR machines.

Real-time PCR enables to interrogate hundreds of genes simultaneously, fast reaction time, ability to multiplex with several dyes, and independently programmable blocks. In addition, data analysis software is constantly evolving with vendors striving to make the end-user experience more intuitive and user-friendly.

On challenges and opportunities

One of the major challenges we face is to deliver multiple features at a minimal price. Other challenges include operating in a market where we have to quote against unauthorized, unlicensed vendors with no prior history, who are willing to offer rock bottom prices by offering very little engineering and application support. We are also observing a small but increasing trend of customers opting for refurbished instruments purchased in the grey market, especially in the real-time thermal cyclers segment. We typically advise customers against going for refurbished instruments. Though Labindia does provide engineering and application support for these products, the long-term cost of owning and operating such instruments can be very steep due to unforeseen and unexpected problems that might require greater than average servicing needs.