As cancer
diagnostics prove to be the key to early detection and improved cancer
outcomes, developing nations will be an increasingly important market for these
products, says Kalorama Information. The healthcare market research
publisher said that 80% of the market for cancer testing products is now in developed nations, but there is opportunity in
the remaining market. The healthcare market research publisher says
western nations have the highest incidence, but also the highest survival rates
from cancer, partially due to stringent testing programs. The lowest
recorded incidences of cancer are in the developing countries but they also
suffered higher rates of death by cancer. This according to Kalorama
Information’s market research study The World Market for Cancer
Diagnostics, 5th Edition, should provide a market opportunity for IVD
manufacturers.
There is a
funding gap which has caused the market disparity, according to the
report. Kalorama says that 28 million (80%) of the people who die
live in low- and middle-income countries, yet less than 1% of private and
public funding for health is allocated to preventing and controlling cancer in
these areas. A burgeoning middle class in Latin America, India, Asia
Pacific and the Middle East account for 14% of the market, with the rest of the
world accounting for the remaining 3%. Cancer is a major problem in
developing countries - approximately 5.4 million people are diagnosed with
cancer each year.
Part of
the problem, the report said, is health funding priorities.
“These
nations are in a continuous fight against HIV, infectious and waterborne
diseases that eat away at their healthcare budgets,” said Shara Rosen, Kalorama
analyst and the author of the report. “Little has been left to treat
diagnose and treat cancer.”
But as
these nations develop, cancer treatment and testing should be top priorities,
while developed nations try to find ways to reduce spending. In Europe,
the aging of the population coupled with the largely unhealthy lifestyle of the
Europeans is likely to double the current number of cancer-related cases by
2020. However most of Europe is under extreme financial distress and crumbling
healthcare systems are finding hard to cover basic cancer diagnostics.
Japan's commitment to cradle to grave health care coverage would normally
result in a robust market. However, Japan has looked to prevention
programs to offset the cost of treatment. Here too, the market for cancer
tests is not expected to grow faster than the market itself. Further, test
rationalization and healthcare reorganization is in progress, worldwide, it is
not anticipated that cancer testing in any geographic segment will grow faster
than the market itself for the next few years – 9%. The report says the
U.S. remains the world driver of cancer test innovation and is the major market
for cancer tests and test services, yet even there payers are beginning to
rationalize the use of some high-priced tests. The U.S. with only 5% of
new cancer patients in the world per year, accounts for 49% of the market for
cancer diagnostics and remains the greatest opportunity.
“Growth in
developing markets such as Latin America, non-Japan Asia and the Middle East
should be near ten percent per year from 2012 to 2017,” Rosen said.
The report
says for example, cancer is the leading death cause in urban China and the
second one in rural China. Lung cancer is the most common cancer, followed by
stomach cancer, liver cancer, esophageal cancer and colorectal cancer. Cancer
Control Programs in China focus on prevention, early diagnosis and treatment.
In June 2009, China Ministry of Health launched six major public health
programs including giving booster shots of the hepatitis B vaccine to those
under the age of 15 as the supplementation to the immunization of infants
against hepatitis B and providing a free screening program for breast and
cervix cancers among the rural women in 200 counties. In Brazil,
screening programs for HPV has been implemented. These are just some of the
efforts launched in what have been called ‘rest of world’ regions in the
past.
The
report, The World Market for Cancer Diagnostics, has
market estimates and forecasts for every major segment of cancer
diagnostics. The report profiles key companies in the industry and talks
about future product developments and industry trends. The report, the
fifth of Kalorama’s studies on the cancer testing market in the past decade,
can be found at http://www.kaloramainformation.com/Cancer-Diagnostics-Edition-7560357/.
