Emerging Markets for Microfluidic Applications

An analysis of the access conditions scenarii for microfluidics technologies into the Life Sciences market. A presentation of microfluidics value chain, and suitable profitable business model leading to successful developments. 18 worldwide company profiles

Life Sciences industrial companies are ready to use microfluidic technologies. However further developments have still to be undertaken to reach Life Sciences companies' expectations. A few commercial components are available and especially dedicated to pharma and academic research.

The microfluidics markets for life science applications should reach M$750 in 2004 and is expected to reach B$2 in 2010. Today challenges of microfuidics suppliers are to reach the specifications of the life science companies, in the in vitro diagnostic, drug discovery, drug delivery markets. And the needs expressed by these industrial companies are really significant. But today, the technology and products providers have strong difficulties to deliver the technical specifications (and pricing) asked by their customers.

Only few companies will make more than few million dollars sales in 2004: Steag Microparts (D) as a world leader, Caliper (US)The other companies are more in a development and prototyping stage. Moreover, the added value chain and the organisation of this industry are on the way to be defined with a strong competition between technologies.

The report provides an exhaustive analysis of microfluidic technologies, applications and markets as well as an in-depth analysis of new applications. Microfluidics value chain, and suitable profitable business model leading to successful developments are too analysed.

This report presents also the current structure of the microfluidics industry with a description of the major players involved and detailed profiles of the top 20 microfluidic components manufacturers.

Some key analysis of the report is:

• An analysis of the different microfluidics applications with a market estimates 2003 - 2010
• The organisation of the microfluidics industry and the the microfluidics value chain
• The strategy of the different manufacturers and an analysis of the different technologies available
• The presentation of the industrialisation process of microfluidic technologies
• A detailed description of polymer micro components fabrication techniques