The protein expression market, or the laboratory manufacture of proteins, is one of the newest and most exciting markets out there. In 2016, the market size was around $1.2 billion and it is growing every year. Demand for proteins for the treatment of diseases has risen dramatically recently and the fact that medical science is advancing treatments for these disease means that trend will continue.
Protein Expression Applications
Protein expression is vital for many different applications. The proteins are needed not only for direct application in actual products, but also for the research behind those products. Expression systems like prokaryotic, insect cells, mammalian cells and yeast are some examples of the systems that these proteins are used for. Because proteomics research, research and development of biological products and genome research are growing by leaps and bounds, the demand for protein expression is also expected to grow at a steady rate.
The Market
The protein expression market is expected to reach more than $2.8 million dollars by the year 2022. The reasons for this massive increase include the continual research on recombinant proteins prevalence of chronic diseases all over the world and the commercial viability of biopharmaceutical Industry. The compound annual growth rate for protein expression is estimated to be at least 11.5% during this forecast up to the year 2022.
The largest market share for protein expression is reagents. The protein expression market has different sections including expression vectors, instruments, services and competent cells. However reagents are not only the largest share but it is also expected to have the highest rate of growth up until 2022. This is because there's a lot of research right now that requires reagents and massive production worldwide of vaccines and antibodies.
The End User of the Protein Expression Market
The end user of the protein expression market is divided up into several sections that include biotech companies, pharmaceutical companies, academic research organizations and more. There is also a need for protein expression when it comes to manufacturing laundry detergent, paper, bioplastics, dairy products, alcoholic products and cosmetics.
Potential Negative Growth and the Reasons Behind it
Although most experts are predicting that the protein expression market is going to grow quite a bit in the coming years, there are a few reasons that it may not.
Government regulations for the production and use of products that protein expression is involved in are currently very stringent. New biologic products have to go through extensive screening processes before they are even approved for clinical trial, and then they have to go through the actual clinical trials themselves, jumping through government hoops the entire way.
Protein expression depends upon the commercialization of certain products including vaccines, insulin hormone treatments and therapeutic antibodies, and those products are heavily regulated even while in the clinical trial phase.
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Research and Development
Of course, there has been a great deal of increase when it comes to research and development by major companies, even those that were already involved in the health industry. Merck is one example of those companies, investing into the research of new products.
Cancer
One of the unfortunate diseases that the protein expression market relies upon is cancer. The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 9 million people died of cancer in the year 2015. Therapeutic protein used in the treatment of cancer is vital to raising survival rates and that is expected to drive use protein expression products.
The State of Protein Expression Application
In 2016, the segment of the application market that was most responsible for the growth in the protein expression was therapeutic. However, it is possible that research will overtake that segment sometime soon. However, experts are not predicting that to be the case. Therapeutic application is still likely to be the major player in the protein expression market, due to the preference of therapeutic proteins over the other drugs that are out there.
But there is no doubt that research is going to play a part in the revenue for protein expression over the coming years. In 2016, the French government announced that they were investing nearly $800 million in genomics programs, specifically to prevent and diagnose chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer end much more rare ailments. Of course, the end goal for them is to treat, but their research, combined with other countries that are following suit, will contribute heavily to the protein expression market.
The Placement of Protein Expression Products
When it comes to the final placement of protein expression products, the pharmaceutical industry and biotech companies are definitely the biggest players in the field. Rising demand for therapeutic proteins like Human Growth Hormone and insulin are driving these organizations needs for protein expression. These companies are also outsourcing research into new drugs and this means that while they will directly be responsible for expanding the market, it will be contract research organizations that will be the actual end user.
In developing countries like South Africa, Argentina, India and China, the demand for protein expression products is going to grow because they have become more aware and more responsible for ensuring that people get the medication that they need. The healthcare infrastructure in these countries is still developing but it is going to be one of the big reasons why the protein expression industry will continue to grow at a steady rate for many years or decades to come.
Regional Insights into the Protein Expression Industry
North America is still the regional force to be reckoned with when it comes to protein expression products, primarily because major users of these proteins are located there, for example, Pfizer Inc., Amgen and Merck. However, the European market is also growing because of how much countries like France, Germany and the United Kingdom are focusing on proteomics and genomics research. The highest growth rate coming up will be the Asia-Pacific market because of the developing Healthcare infrastructures that are being built in countries like China and India. Less regulation in those areas is also a factor.
