The global preclinical imaging market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.0% from 2014 to 2019. Although mature markets (such as the U.S., Germany, France, and the U.K.) hold larger shares in the preclinical imaging market in 2014, the Asia-Pacific region is poised to grow at the highest CAGR of 8.2% in the next five years. Factors such as increased outsourcing of preclinical research activities to Asia-based CROs by big pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies, owing to low cost of research in these nations; and increased government funding for drug discovery and development activities in economically emerging counties are propelling the growth of the preclinical imaging market in Asia-Pacific region.
The growth of the global preclinical imaging market is driven by factors such as development of technologically advanced hybrid preclinical imaging systems such as PET/CT, PET/MRI, and PET/SPECT/CT; growing acceptance of preclinical imaging as a legitimate drug development tool; and rising volume of preclinical research. In addition, emerging markets offering lucrative growth and departure of major companies from preclinical imaging systems market are creating new growth opportunities for the preclinical imaging systems and reagents manufacturers. Nonetheless, declining NIH (National Institutes of Health) funding for life science research, high implementation cost of preclinical imaging devices, and high cost and data requirements for bringing new imaging technology are the key reasons hampering the growth of preclinical imaging market.
In this report, the preclinical imaging market has been segmented on the basis of modality (covering optical imaging, nuclear imaging, micro-MRI, micro-CT, micro-ultrasound, photoacoustic, and magnetic particle imaging systems), by type of reagents (including nuclear imaging reagents, optical imaging reagents, MRIcontrast agents, ultrasound contrast agents and CT contrast agents), and by region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World). The optical imaging systems market is estimated to account for the largest share of the global preclinical imaging systems market in 2014. However, the nuclear imaging systems segment is expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period. Factors such as development of technologically advanced hybrid nuclear imaging systems such as PET/MRI and PET/SPECT/CT and rising adoption of these devices in the preclinical research are driving the grow of the preclinical nuclear imaging systems market.
Geographically, North America (comprising the U.S. and Canada) commands the largest share of 36.2% of the global preclinical imaging market in 2014, followed by Europe. The preclinical imaging market in North America is primarily driven by various factors high volume of preclinical research in this region, easy availability and accessibility of resources (such as radioactive tracers), and rising government funding for research and innovation in Canada.
However, declining funding budgets of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) for preclinical research studies and recent changes in the Canadian R&D tax credit program are negatively affecting the growth of preclinical imaging market in North America.
The global preclinical imaging market is highly fragmented and competitive with a large number of global and local manufacturers of preclinical imaging systems and reagents. As of 2013, the global preclinical imaging market was dominated by PerkinElmer, Inc. (U.S.) and Bruker Corporation (U.S.), which together accounted for ~45% share of the market. New product launches, partnerships, agreements, collaborations, and geographic expansions were the major strategies adopted by most of the market players to achieve growth in the preclinical imaging market.
