Paving a new path for healthcare delivery with immunochemistry

The immunochemistry industry shows potential for immense growth, with exciting technological advancements over the past decade. The market represents around 40.1 percent of the global IVD market, and is expected to garner USD 17,836 million by 2022, registering a CAGR of 7.3 percent during the forecast period 2016–2022.
Automation has led to accurate and dependable testing models with streamlined maintenance and inventory management, and simple point-of-care testing. The immunochemistry market seems to check all the right boxes for investors. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the development of antibody testing kits for corona virus, both as analyzer-based and rapid immunochromatography tests, which will be used to research community spread and herd immunity of the developing pandemic, with private and public funding.

While there may be a push from governments to expand production and research in the First World countries (where America, Germany, Japan, and Korea usually dominate), the developing countries may face high import costs, deterring acquisition of newer technologies. Smaller labs are reluctant to invest in high capital and maintenance costs, associated with large, fully automated systems, as profits are then based on numbers. However, with India resolving to be self-reliant, with increased expenditure in healthcare, we may see the birth of India-born companies providing affordable immunochemistry solutions without heavy import costs. Access to compact systems, offering advanced parameters, ensures good return on investment, disrupting existing competitive markets. This must be backed with reasonable regulations and quality-control requirements, in order for the industry and the consumer to trust homebred productions.Technology advanced with EIA and RIA evolving into CLIA, IFA and ELFA systems, and then to multiplexed assay systems, surface plasmon resonance (label-free immunoassays) with robotic workstations and biosensors. Optimization of ELISA led to qualitative or quantitative, portable LFIA, testing multiple parameters, simultaneously. Dipstick or cassettes have nitrocellulose pads impregnated with labelled molecules, which react with corresponding molecules in patient samples. Smart phone-based scanners and applications scan the results of the antigen-antibody reactions, giving unambiguous, lab-quality data that can be GPS tracked, shareable to clinics or research facilities, leading to faster diagnosis and guidance. It paves the way for home-based testing, requiring little or no expertise, leading to better testing compliance for patients of chronic ailments, who require long-term monitoring of parameters like glucose, lipids, HBA1C, hormone levels, etc. This app-based technology has potential for customized user interfaces, and can be used for tests in production or in the market, revolutionizing diagnostic delivery in rural areas.
Micro-fluidics or lab-on-a-chip detects nanoparticles of an analyte, as immunoassays, on a chip, a few centimeters or millimeters in size. With 3D printing, production and applications like estimation of biochemistry parameters to rapid DNA hybridization, stem cell cultures, antibiotic resistance, and genetic studies, have increased.

In the current scenario, the application of micro-fluidics in the development of a potential vaccine or drug to combat COVID-19 may speed up trials. Harvard’s Wyss Institute has engineered microchips that recapitulate the micro-architecture and functions of living human organs, mimicking mechanical and technical functions of the human body. This aptly named human-on-a-chip serves as a testing platform for an infection simulation with CoV2 pseudo virus to research specific drug responses or disease progression.

With a large amount of data available to physicians through technology, clinical decision support tools help to transform static data into actionable knowledge, evidence-based care, and precision medicine. The future of the immunochemistry industry shows convergence of AI-enabled analysis, machine learning, and micro fluidics, the applications of which could greatly impact healthcare delivery.