Automated Cell Analysis Systems Driving High-Content Screening/Imaging

The increasing adoption of high-content screening in research and development is contributing to growth of this market. The imaging of cell function is important to understanding the underlying functional biology associated with new therapeutic targets. By 2023, the global market for high-content screening/imaging will be worth USD 1.7 billion. High-content screening integrates the instrumentation, application software, reagents, sample preparation and informatics/bioinformatics required to rapidly flow from producing data and generating information to ultimately creating new cellular knowledge. The method allows relatively high-throughput screening of cells.

From an estimated USD 915 million in 2018, a five-year compound annual growth rate of 13.1 percent is projected. High-content screening is being implemented in oncology, neuroscience and oncology research, including primary and post-primary compound screening. Recently, high-content approaches have been used extensively in stem cell biology. There is demand for high-content imaging within fully automated screening laboratories.

Research highlights

• High-content screening can analyze a large amount of data in very little time. This technique has been developed to collect quantitative data from cell populations.
• Software and analytics is the fastest-growing market segment. High-content screening software stores image data and analyzes systems that support a wide range of file formats, allowing visualization of images regardless of origin.
• With the help of 3D high-content screening, 3D cell cultures are increasingly being implemented in early drug discovery.

The rapid adoption of high-content screening in the pharmaceutical industry and academic research centers shows the importance of this information-rich screening tool. High-content screening imaging systems have incorporated improvements to meet users’ demands of greater flexibility and the growing requirements of assays that involve complex cellular disease models.

Equipment expense is a market restraint

The high cost of high-content screening instrumentation is the primary factor restraining market growth. The price of machinery and instrumentation prohibits a small-economy country or research organization from purchasing high-content screening equipment. Inadequate infrastructure and less funding for research and development in emerging countries will also hinder the market because installation and maintenance costs are also very high. – BCC Research