Biobanks Market Definition
The biobanks market consists of sales of biological specimens such as blood products, human tissues, cell lines nucleic acids (DNA, RNA) and other specimens through biorepositories. This market does not include sales generated from the sale of blood to be used for transfusions to treat medical conditions or of statistical information such as age, gender, diet and lifestyles which biobanks collect.
A biobank is a collection of human biological specimens including whole organs, tissue, blood products, plasma, urine, or intracellular components such as DNA and RNA. Biobanks are also known as bio-repositories, bio-resources or tissue banks. The primary function of biobanks is to collect, analyze, store and distribute bio-specimens for research purposes and for treating medical conditions. They can be established within academic, medical or research institutions, pharmaceutical/biotechnology companies, hospitals or as stand-alone organizations.
Biobanks Market Size
The biobanks market reached a value of nearly $50.3 billion in 2018 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.4% to nearly $68.5 billion by 2023.
Factors such as advances in drug discovery and development, rise in funding from government and private organizations, changes in lifestyle and increasing geriatric population globally are contributing to the growth of the market.
Factors such as such as stringent regulations, lack of standardization and ethical and legal issues such as informed consent and protection of participant privacy may restrain the growth of the biobanks market.
Biobanks Market Drivers
The key drivers of the biobanks market includes:
Rise in Genomic and Proteomic Research – Increase in genomic and proteomic research is expected to drive the biobank market during the forecast period. Genomics involves the study of all genes and proteomics is a study of a set of proteins. Biobanks consist of bio specimens required during the genomic and proteomic research. It aids in identification of genomic variations associated with the diseases. In 2018, Cleveland Clinics and Brooks Automation partnered to introduce a new biobank that will advance genomic research and improve clinical care. In 2018, UK Biobank announced a major initiative to sequence the genomes of 50,000 UK Biobank volunteer participants.
Biobanks Market Restraints
The key restraints on the biobanks market include:
Regulatory Hurdles – Stringent regulations relating to biobanks will be a major restraint on the market during the forecast period. Regulations related to the privacy of individuals or research participants with effective research is a challenge. For example, in 2018, the new European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) made privacy policies more consistent across the EU (including the UK) for personal data such as genetic and clinical information. The new law states that only necessary data should be collected and held for a short time. Also, a Data Protection Officer (DPO) is required for monitoring large volumes of data. These regulatory policies are expected to be a major restraint on the biobanks market in the forecast period.
Biobanks Market Trends
Major trends influencing the biobanks market include:
Automated Sample Storage and Liquid Handling Systems in Biobanks – Automated sample storage and liquid handling systems are increasingly being used by biobanks to accommodate large number of samples, maintain sample integrity and enhance accessibility. For example, Mayo Clinic Biobank Infrastructure in the USA has automated sample storage and liquid handling systems following a design by Hamilton Storage and Hamilton Robotics. The system can manage and store up to 8.7 million biological samples at minus 80 °C. This technology aids in accurate tracking, storing, and retrieving samples. Lifelines’ biobank in the Netherlands is using automated sample storage and liquid handling systems to standardize sample collection and maintain sample integrity. Samples were stored in a Hamilton Bios system which has the capacity to store up to 10 million sample tubes at minus 80°C.
Development of Virtual Biobanks – Traditional biobanks are offering virtual biobanks to aid biomedical research. A virtual biobank is an online platform which provides 2D and 3D form of samples stored at traditional biobanks. It can be accessed via specialized software or a web portal. This tool helps to speed up the accessibility of bio specimens and clinical data, and further analyze samples. In 2018, a virtual biobank was developed by the UK’s University of Newcastle and Australia’s Hunter Medical Research Institute to host 3D copies of human cancer tissues. This online platform allows researchers to access virtual copies of tumor samples from the Hunter Cancer Biobank, along with important clinical and molecular information. It will accelerate cancer research activities. The University of California San Francisco (UCSF) is developing a virtual biobank which will be widely available to UCSF investigators. It will provide aggregate participant and sample data for existing bio specimen collections from participating repositories. It will promote collaborations and enhance research due to the accessibility of pre-existing bio specimens.
Opportunities In The Biobanks Market
Opportunities – The top opportunities in the global biobanks market will arise in the USA, where the market will gain $4,543 million in annual sales between 2018 and 2023, in China, where it will put on $3,488 million and globally, where the blood products segment will accrue $10,385 of extra revenues in that period. To take advantage of such opportunities, biobank businesses should adopt strategies such as developing virtual banks to speed up the accessibility of bio specimen and clinical data, implementing radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to automate bio specimen sample tagging and tracking and help reduce costs and errors and building resource centers of biological samples for major diseases.
Biobanks Market Segmentation
The Biobanks market is categorized by segment, and by geography.
By Segment -
The biobanks market is categorized by segment into
- a) Blood Products
- b) Cell Lines
- c) Nucleic Acids
- d) Human Tissues and Cells
The blood products segment accounted for the largest share of the biobanks market in 2018 at $38.1 billion. The highest growth is projected to come from the human tissues and cells segment, which is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 12.3%. This growth was mainly due to greater use of blood products such as plasma and platelets for treating medical conditions and for medical research.
By Geography - The biobanks market is segmented into
- o North America
- o Western Europe
- UK
- Germany
- France
- Spain
- Italy
- o Asia Pacific
- China
- Japan
- India
- Australia
- o Eastern Europe
- o South America
- o Middle East
- o Africa
North America was the largest region in the biobanks market in 2018, accounting for 46.8% of the global market. It was followed by Western Europe and Asia Pacific. Going forward, the fastest growth in the biobanks market will take place in Asia Pacific, followed by South America.
Biobanks Competitive Landscape
Major Competitors are:
- • Japanese Red Cross Society
- • American Red Cross
- • Canadian Blood Services
- • Biobank Graz
- • Shanghai Zhangjiang Biobank