Huge potential for LIMS market

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Oct 21, 2003

The worldwide market for laboratory information management systems is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.8% over the next five years.

The worldwide market for laboratory information management systems (LIMS) is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.8% over the next five years.

The market for these commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) applications is projected at $290.3 million in 2003 and is forecasted to be $366 million in 2008, according to a new ARC Advisory Group study.

Manufacturers of all sizes across industry boundaries are recognising that home grown systems may not be cost effective.

"The perception that commercial LIMS solutions require extensive customisation is outdated.

Manufacturers are displaying an increased willingness to implement moderately customised, out-of-the-box solutions to decrease their LIMS total cost of ownership (TCO)", according to Senior Analyst Paula Hollywood, the principal author of ARC's "Laboratory information management systems (LIMS) worldwide outlook".

This study projection is for the commercial LIMS hardware, software and services market.

When home-grown LIMS solutions are included, ARC estimates the potential for this market to be between $550 to $750 million dollars, ie two to three times current forecasts.

A huge upside opportunity is the conversion of these custom solutions - with their inherent high total cost of ownership to out-of-the-box solutions.

Recognising the difficulty convincing users to ditch their home-grown systems for packaged software, these numbers are not part of the forecast.

But, if someone can tap into this area, this market has great upside potential.

Government regulated industries, pharmaceutical including drug discovery, food and beverage, and environmental, are the leading consumers of LIMS.

These industries represent more than 50% of revenues in 2003.

Government laboratories are also expected to experience high growth as governments around the world seek to protect their citizenry from bio-terrorism and other public health threats through increased preparedness and better communication channels.

Lab throughput can be drastically improved with an effective LIMS solution.

The ability of the solution to obtain test results directly from lab instruments or instrument-controlling PCs reduces keyboard data entry and translation errors.

Typically, linked instruments include HPLC, GC, NMR, ICP, NIR, balances, pH meters, titrators, viscometers, densitometers, pour points and mass spectrometers.

It is likely that linking LIMS to instruments will become more critical in the future for the pharmaceutical industry both in terms of instrument interfaces and protocols as the FDA more clearly defines its Process Analytical Technology (PAT) initiative.

The developed regions of the world account for more than 80% of the LIMS market, as North America and Europe have the most stringent regulatory requirements for traceability in the food chain and drug supply as well as environmental protection laws.

The developing nations of the world are currently trailing in the number of system implementations, but this situation is expected to improve as their industrial bases solidify.

The export market is also a driver for developing regions who seek to export products to developed nations where traceability is a requirement regardless of the point of manufacture.