Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Despite restructuring in big pharma, the overall outlook for analytical instruments is positive for the next four years with 5% to 6% real growth forecast for traditional systems.
The R&D environment is full of market-affecting changes, from a pharmaceutical industry that is undergoing a strategic reassessment of its drug development procedures to a burgeoning Asian marketplace that is making major inroads into the high-tech arena. Changing also is the security arena with increasing growth for analyzing potential biological, chemical, and radiation hazards. And while analytical instrument growth in the U.S. still appears to be slow, the global market for these instruments appears to be headed for five consecutive years of solid growth fueled by investments by developed countries in the developing countries.
The technology of analytical instrumentation itself appears to see a strong evolution toward more automation, easier to use systems, hybrid systems, and systems with nanoscale or better measurement capabilities, along with nanoscale components themselves. Raman spectrometers are now available for the “common man” instead of only the PhD scientist, and in hand-held versions at that. Nanoflow chromatography systems are widely available, reducing the reagents needed and the wastes generated. And even large-field NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) systems can now fit into smaller spaces, along with accommodations for larger samples.
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