Lab automation market to show steady growth

The lab automation market is projected to reach USD 5.20 billion by 2022 from USD 4.06 billion in 2017, growing at a CAGR of 5.1 percent, estimates MarketsandMarkets. Process miniaturization, high demand for lab automation equipment in drug discovery and clinical diagnostics, higher reproducibility and accuracy, and large workforce demand and supply gap are likely to drive the growth of this market. In addition, lab automation offers enhanced productivity and reduced costs, better personnel safety, and small volumes of samples and reagents. However, high cost is limiting the adoption of lab automation among small and medium-sized labs which is likely to restrict the market growth.

In 2017, the automated workstation segment is expected to account for the largest share of the lab automation market. The high demand for automation in liquid handling is the key factor driving market growth in this segment. Automated workstations offer advantages such as enhanced accuracy, and reduced time and cost. Based on the end user, in 2017, the biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies segment is expected to account for the largest share of the market. Factors such as increasing product intricacy, pricing pressure, high cost incurred by errors, and need for consistency in quality are driving these companies to adopt automation and accelerate the drug discovery process.

Geographically, North America is projected to account for the largest share of the global lab automation market in 2017. The demand for lab automation in North America is driven by the increasing number of investments in research and innovation by the government, large presence of pharmaceutical R&D labs in this region, and lab automation adoption by hospitals and clinical diagnostic labs due to increasing volume of tests.