Market Trends of South Africa In-Vitro Diagnostics Industry
Reagents are Expected to hold a Significant Market Share in the Product Segment Over the Forecast Period
Reagents are an integral part of in vitro diagnostics. They are of a varied range, for different types of disease diagnosis. Due to the increased need for reagents to meet the rising demand worldwide, the diagnosis of COVID-19 infection was anticipated to considerably contribute to the expansion of the researched segment. Few of the market players launched diagnostic reagents for COVID-19 testing. For example, in July 2021, the Health Republic of South Africa released an updated policy and guidelines for SARS-CoV-2 in-vitro diagnostic tests in South Africa.
The reagent segment of the market studied includes chemical, biological, or immunological components, solutions, or preparations intended by the manufacturer to be used during the in-vitro diagnosis process. Given the high cost of many diagnostic platforms, it was common for manufacturers to lease equipment instead of selling technology outright to end-users. In these arrangements, the lease was tied to contracts to purchase associated reagents or assays for the equipment over the life of the contract.
Moreover, South Africa established medical device regulatory structure. For instance, according to an article published by PubMed Central in March 2021, South Africa had a formal regulatory process for medical devices that included all essential regulatory components as recommended by the WHO, this presence of regulatory body for medical devices was expected to increase the usage of reagents used in them and hence it was expected to fuel the segment growth. Furthermore, with the rising cancer burden, the demand for in vitro diagnostics for early diagnosis rose, which was also expected to propel the segment growth over the forecast period.
Hence, due to the aforementioned factors, the reagents segment was expected to hold a large market share during the forecast period of the study.
Molecular Diagnostics Segment is Expected to hold a Significant Market Share Over the Forecast Period
The major factors driving the growth of the segment are rising developments in the molecular diagnostics field, increasing prevalence of infectious diseases, and rising adoption of molecular diagnostic tests.
The increasing prevalence of infectious diseases like influenza and HIV is boosting the adoption of rapid influenza diagnostic tests and molecular diagnostic tests in the region. For instance, according to the data from The National Institute for Communicable Diseases of South Africa in November 2022, 1,149 influenza cases have been detected and 95 cases of Bordetella pertussis have been detected in South Africa in 2022.
Furthermore, the development of new technologies in the molecular diagnostic field will also enhance the growth of the segment. For instance, according to an article published by Frontiers in October 2022, pathogenic microorganisms have major impacts on human lives, and rapid and sensitive molecular diagnostic tools are urgently needed to facilitate the early treatment of microbial infections and the effective control of microbial transmission. CRISPR-Cas13 is a new molecular diagnostic technology that employs programmable RNA to produce a sensitive and specific method with high base resolution and thus provides a novel tool for the rapid detection of microorganisms.
Hence, due to the factors such as increasing prevalence of infectious diseases like influenza and HIV, and development of new technologies in the molecular diagnostic field are expected to enhance the segment growth.
