The AACC annual meeting hosts the largest clinical laboratory expo, and this year’s expo was probably the largest ever with an estimated 20,000 participants, close to 700 exhibiting companies, 2,000+ booths, and over half a million square feet of exhibit space!  Besides its mammoth size, this trade show also packed a mind-boggling number of new product introductions.  Among the new products unveiled at the show, various (you guessed it!) clinical laboratory equipment such as molecular diagnostic platforms, chemistry analyzers, ELISA systems, thermal cyclers, automatic capper/decapper systems, sample prep systems, centrifuges, and whatever else you have ever dreamed of for your clinical lab were introduced.  As if that wasn’t enough, the new products also included a wide range of new assays testing diseases/chemicals you may or may not heard of.  To those who work in a clinical laboratory setting, this show must be like Christmas in July, packed with new toys he/she’s been wishing for.

Market consolidation in the clinical testing instrument business was evident on the show floor, with many exhibitors displaying families of instruments recently acquired from other smaller businesses.  From the looks of it there is more consolidation in store; the lure of the personalized medicine business has generated a large number of new companion diagnostics instruments and assays, and it appears the number of PCR instruments far exceeds what the market could demand.

Also evident on a walk-around is the increasing trend away from large central lab instruments and toward smaller footprint satellite lab and portable instruments.  This trend is likely fueled by increasing interest in lower cost and quicker turnaround point-of-care diagnostics coupled with ready mini-electronics and battery design arising from the consumer electronics industry.

Another trend shown in recently years is the influx of new players from emerging markets such as Latin America and Asia Pacific.  The IVD market is expecting a compound annual growth rate of 6.6% for the next 5 years with the Asia Pacific and Latin America regions leading the way, according to the expo issue of the Clinical Laboratory News July 2011.  Not only are the demands from these markets are growing, confirmed by the number of international participants walking the floor, but also the technology innovation from these regions is forecast to surpass the U.S in the coming decade.  This year, there were 55 Chinese biotech companies and manufacturers showcasing lab devices, assays, manufacturing components, and even a CAP-accredited clinical lab network.  The fact that most manufacturers claim ISO 13485 certificate and CE mark shows the sophistication and competitiveness of the Asia Pacific biotech sector.  The shifting landscape of both major market places and innovation drivers will be interesting and a challenge for U.S. companies in the coming decade.