MARKET INSIGHTS

“Active” Products Drive Wound-Care Market
Goal Is to Offer a Lower Overall Cost Solution
by: An Commentary by “Scientia Advisors”

Simply put, wound-care products aim to heal wounds in a timely manner and control infection. Wound-care products cost the U.S. healthcare system over $7 billion in 2007. When one considers the additional costs associated with potential complications such as infection, extended physician care, and lengthy hospital stays, however, total annual wound-care expenditures balloon to over $20 billion.

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Molecular Imaging in Drug Development
An industry commentary by Scientia Advisors, LLC

Molecular imaging promises to be a very interesting growth area in drug discovery in both preclinical and clinical markets. There is considerable enthusiasm in the pre-clinical market to expand its use and a more cautious approach in the clinical market. In either market, the drivers of growth will be the adoption of functional imaging technologies to gain access to higher quality in vivo data. The size of the opportunity for suppliers of molecular imaging products and services is huge. If the more than $12B spent annually by pharmaceutical companies for preclinical and Phase I drug discovery and the approximately $2.9B1 on translation research at academic and research institutions are combined, suppliers are competing for a share of nearly $15B in spending.

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Assessing the Life Sciences Tool Market
by: Arshad Ahmed

Among the flurry of M&A activity of life sciences tools players over the past several years, some fundamental questions remain: What is the health of the overall life sciences tools industry? Are the participating companies well-positioned for sustainable and profitable growth? Will these firms create long-term shareholder value?

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Pharmacogenetics: Promises and challenges
An industry commentary by Scientia Advisors

Pharmacogenetics (PGx), the application of genetic variation to understand variability in medicine response has been heralded as the facilitator of personalized medicine and targeted therapies that could alter the healthcare landscape.

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Is molecular diagnostics revolutionalizing cancer care?
An industry commentary by Scientia Advisors, LLC

Cancer is the second leading cause of death and worldwide incidence of the disease has been on the rise. Cancer is a complex, multi-factorial disease comprising more than 100 similar diseases. One of the greatest challenges facing clinicians in treating cancer is early diagnosis when there is sufficient time to utilize multiple treatment algorithms. Current diagnostic tools, include various blood marker based immuonoassays, imaging techniques, and biopsy analysis, provide valuable information but have inherent limitations in sensitivity and specificity, involve invasive scoping, and remain expensive. In addition, these tools remain effective only when the tumor frequency is greater than 1% to 10%; hence these tests do not provide early detection.

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Life Science Tools:
An industry commentary by Scientia Advisors

The field of Life Sciences is about our developing knowledge of living organisms and the use of that knowledge improve our lives; whether it is through preventing or curing debilitating diseases or through detecting harmful pathogens in our drinking water supplies.

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European IVD Market
Local conditions and national concerns
by: John Conroy

If Europe’s IVD industry were a patient receiving a checkup, it would get a clean bill of health but be told to keep an eye on a few matters that could affect its santé in the future. The near-term prognosis is good. With $10–11 billion in sales last year, the IVD market is expected to grow at a modest compound annual rate of 5–6% through 2010, according to figures compiled by Harry Glorikian, managing partner of Scientia Advisors (Cambridge, MA). With 30% of the global market for IVD products in 2005, the European Union is second only to North America’s 44% market share.

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Established Diagnostic and Therapeutic Players
Eager to Build Molecular Diagnostics Franchises

Clinical application of molecular technologies to elucidate, diagnose and monitor human diseases is referred to as molecular diagnostics. Molecular diagnostics is the most exciting growth segment of the in vitro diagnostics industry today. The segment has explosive potential, with multiple opportunities for entry and growth, as well as competition and change. It is a cornerstone in the emerging field of pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine. Advances in technology are propelling both new and old companies forward with new capabilities. Currently Scientia Advisors estimates the molecular diagnostics segment at $2B in sales and growing at 15% CAGR.

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