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bought Amira Medical, an American company specialized in diabetes monitoring. Similarly, Johnson & Johnson bought the diabetes diagnosis activities of Inverness Medical Technology in June 2001. During the same month, Bayer Diagnostics and the Japanese company Matsushita Electric Industrial (better known by its brand name, Panasonic) created a partnership in the medical diagnostics field, particularly for the development of a diabetes monitoring device.
The European Market
Other companies pursued developments in the field of genomics and molecular biology. Genomics is the study of diseasemarker genes and can be used to predict whether a certain treatment will be beneficial or toxic to a patient. This new science made possible by the first complete sequencing of the human genome has opened new horizons in the search for new treatments, particularly in the study of cancer.
■ Microbiology (culture)
❚ In 2001, the European market was estimated at 6.4 billion euros, an increase of 7.3% compared to 2000. Reagents accounted for 86% of the total market while instruments represented 14%. The distribution of turnover among the main reagent categories is as follows: ■ Clinical chemistry 35.4%
■ Infectious immunology 15.6%
The global in vitro diagnostics market is estimated to represent 23.8 billion euros and the 8 largest companies make up more than 80% of the global market. Arranged by decreasing turnover, these companies are the following: 1. Roche Diagnostics 2. Abbott 3. Johnson & Johnson 4. Bayer Diagnostics 5. Beckman Coulter 6. Dade Behring 7. Becton Dickinson 8. bioMérieux
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6.6%
■ Hematology/Cytology 14.4%
■ Immunochemistry 28% Source: EDMA
Clinical Chemistry includes assays for urea, glucose, cholesterol, sodium, potassium, hepatic and cardiac enzymes or fecal occult blood... Immunochemistry includes assays of hormones and cancerous tumor markers, allergy tests... Hematology includes complete blood cell counts, blood and tissue group tests and blood coagulation assays. Microbiology is the characterization of pathogenic or non-pathogenic germs and culture to test antimicrobial susceptibility. Infectious immunology includes the characterization of bacteria, viruses (including those responsible for AIDS, hepatitis A, B and C, and rubella) and parasites such as toxoplasma.
