News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel

News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel
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Frost & Sullivan Report Identifies Molecular Diagnostics as Fastest-Growing Sector of Clinical Pathology Laboratory Testing

Annual growth rates of 11% or more is predicted for molecular diagnostics in coming years

Just as consolidation and acquisitions reshaped the in vitro diagnostics (IVD) manufacturing industry and concentrated market share among just a handful of multi-billion dollar IVD giants, a similar consolidation can be seen in the molecular diagnostics sector. Today it is estimated that just nine global companies control 75% of the molecular diagnostics market.

That market concentration means clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups have a just a handful of primary vendors from which to purchase many of the molecular diagnostic assays and genetic tests that are used most frequently in clinical care.

Frost and Sullivan published a detailed study about the molecular diagnostics marketplace. The consulting firm estimated that worldwide sales of molecular diagnostics totaled $4.1 billion in 2010. By contrast, total IVD sales globally were about $48 billion in 2010. That total includes the routine, reference, and esoteric test kits, reagents, and supplies used every day by medical laboratories.

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Changing Role for Pathology and Clinical Laboratory Testing Discussed at Personalized Medicine World Conference in Silicon Valley

Genetic testing and molecular diagnostics will be essential to wider adoption of personalized medicine by nation’s physicians

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA—Here in Silicon Valley at the Personalized Medicine World Conference (PMWC), the role of clinical laboratory testing and anatomic pathology services was consistently recognized as essential in advancing this important healthcare trend. Yet, at the same time, few pathologists or clinical laboratory executives were in attendance.

Your Dark Daily Editor, Robert L. Michel, was here at PMWC this week to speak on the topic of how medical laboratories and pathology groups will be one primary—and important—channel for helping physicians adopt and use personalized medicine in their medical practice. In simplest terms, it is typically pathologists and clinical laboratory professionals who educate doctors about the availability of new clinical lab tests and how to use them in their practice of medicine.

In that role, the medical laboratory provides physicians with information on when to order these new assays, how to interpret the lab test results, and how to use those results to determine the most appropriate therapy. Yet, here at the Personalized Medicine World Conference, developers at biotech companies seem to be overlooking this long-established fact in the clinical care marketplace. (more…)

Three Trends in High-Throughput Gene Sequencing for Pathologists and Clinical Laboratory Managers

Two experts predict that tomorrow’s gene sequencing systems may render large swaths of today’s clinical laboratory obsolete

Gene sequencing is the hot technology in both the biotech and clinical laboratory testing industries. That is because the cost of rapid gene sequencing systems is falling rapidly, even as the speed and accuracy of these latest-generation gene sequencers improves significantly.

It is important that medical laboratories managers and pathologists understand the consequences of this technology development curve. The constantly-improving capabilities of these systems means that rapid gene sequencing and whole human genome sequencing will soon take their place in clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups.
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Anatomic Pathology in China Is a Booming Growth Industry

Shortage of pathologists only adds to the challenges of providing high quality anatomic pathology testing services

DATELINE: Hangzhou, China—More than 1,200 Chinese pathologists and medical laboratory scientists assembled this weekend in a city marked by 1,500 years of history. The occasion was the first-ever combined meeting of the Chinese Society of Pathology and the Pathology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association.

Across the globe, pathologists and clinical laboratory professionals regularly hear about the rapid economic growth in China. This country is modernizing at an astounding rate and the evidence is easy to see in its major cities. That is certainly true here in Hanghzou, which has a population of 8.7 million people and is the anchor city for Zhejiang Province, with a population of approximately 54.4 million. It has many new buildings in its downtown and construction cranes are visible in every direction.
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Clinical Chemists and Medical Laboratory Professionals Gather at AACC’s Annual Meeting in Atlanta

Lots of products involving molecular diagnostics and genetic testing were on display at the exhibition

DATELINE: Atlanta, Georgia—Yesterday was the close of the 2011 annual meeting of the American Association of Clinical Chemistry (AACC). Organizers played host to what—pre-event—they announced was a record-breaking number of exhibit booths sold to vendors at the exhibition. Despite a rather quiet economy, there was plenty of traffic and much interest in products on display in the clinical laboratory.

Many lab industry vendors believe that there is pent-up demand by medical laboratories because of the long recession in 2008 and 2009, combined with the clamp-down on laboratory spending that resulted as hospitals and health systems slashed budgets during the recession to protect their cash flows. But now, having deferred equipment replacement for up to three full years, a number of clinical pathology laboratories have returned to the marketplace to acquire new medical laboratory testing equipment.

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