The Rapid Diagnostics Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 1.4% from 2022–2029 to reach $26.4 billion by 2029. A rapid diagnostic test (RDT) is a medical diagnostic test that provides diagnostic results efficiently and immediately (within 1 hour) while the patient is still at the health facility, screening site, or other health care provider.
RDT kits are widely used in hospitals and clinical laboratories for the qualitative and quantitative detection of specific antigens, antibodies, and genetic material or proteins associated with a specific health condition or disease, helping to uncover the underlying mechanisms of disease and enabling doctors and healthcare workers to make crucial medical decisions.
The growing demand for POC diagnostics, the rising prevalence of chronic diseases coupled with the increasing aging population, the growing necessity for rapid decision making in emergency departments, and emerging technological innovations are the key factors driving the growth of the global rapid diagnostics market.
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Impact of COVID-19 on the Rapid Diagnostics Market
The COVID-19 pandemic positively impacted that rapid diagnostics market in terms of revenue; however, the pandemic negatively impacted the sales of routine testing kits used mainly to screen cancer, blood glucose, cardiac markers, lipid profile, cholesterol, and other infectious diseases.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a reduction in the number of overall diagnostic testing conducted globally due to the lockdowns and restrictions imposed by several governments worldwide, which translated further into reduced instrument installations and reduced sales of reagents and consumables; however, the loss of sales occurred in routine testing kits was compensated by high sales of COVID-19-related tests.
Governments worldwide depended on rapid diagnostic kits to screen COVID-19 infections within the population. Also, various governments took numerous initiatives to support the testing needs of their respective countries. Some of them are listed below:
- In April 2021, the federal government of Germany made it mandatory for employers in Germany to offer free COVID-19 self-testing kits once a week to employees not working from home.
- In April 2021, the U.K. Government announced its plans to design a system of COVID-19 passports that will allow people to people to attend public events, including sports games, by either showing proof of vaccination or a recent negative test. The Government also announced its plans to provide free test kits through local pharmacy stores, community centers, and home delivery services.
- In March 2021, The German Federal Ministry of Health approved the sale of COVID-19 rapid antigen tests in supermarket chains, drug stores, pharmacies, and e-commerce websites. For this purpose, Germany's Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) provided special approval to seven COVID-19 rapid antigen test kits for home use.
- In March 2021, Becker's Healthcare published that the U.S. government is set to launch a national testing strategy to control the spread of COVID-19. Through this testing strategy, the Government will open four COVID-19 testing hubs across the country with an investment of $650 million. These testing hubs were aimed at increasing the number of monthly national testing by 25 million.
- In October 2020, the Italian Health Ministry announced its plans to conduct rapid COVID-19 diagnostics tests throughout the country to control the rising prevalence of COVID-19 infections.
Despite the supply and logistics challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous rapid diagnostics products were launched to fulfill the demand for COVID-19 infection diagnosis in both symptomatic and asymptomatic people. In addition, to align themselves with the travel restrictions, companies operating in the market started to hold web meetings and webinars to interact with their customer and shareholders and provide product descriptions, customer demonstrations, and applications training.
Furthermore, countries worldwide have started to relax lockdown restrictions due to the lower number of new infections and the growing number of people with COVID-19 vaccinations, which is expected to propel the number of routine tests globally. Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted the sale of routine testing kits globally; however, high sales of COVID-19-related tests compensated for the loss of sales in routine testing kits.
Key Findings in the Global Rapid Diagnostics Market Study:
Kits segment Generated Larger Proportion of Revenue Compared to Test Readers/Analysers
The kits segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the rapid diagnostics market in 2022. The large share of this segment can be attributed to the rising adoption and repetitive kits usage. In addition, the growing portfolio of disease-specific kits for the early diagnosis of chronic diseases and the increasing technological advancements are other factors supporting the growth of this segment.
Immunoassays to Dominate the Market
The immunoassays segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the rapid diagnostics market in 2022. The large share of this segment is mainly attributed to the increasing geriatric population coupled with the high prevalence of chronic diseases, the increasing technological innovations, and the growing demand for home-based lateral flow assay kits.
Infectious Disease Segment to Register Largest Share in the Rapid Diagnostics Market by 2029
The infectious disease segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the rapid diagnostics market in 2022. The large share of this segment is mainly attributed to the rising prevalence of infectious diseases and the growing demand for affordable infectious disease testing in emerging markets.
Hospitals & Clinics Segment to Dominate Global Rapid Diagnostics Market
The hospitals & clinics segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the rapid diagnostics market in 2022. The large share of this segment is mainly attributed to the increasing number of patient visits to hospitals for availing various healthcare services, such as diagnosis, treatments, and surgeries with well-equipped operating & diagnostic rooms, the presence of highly skilled healthcare professionals, the ease of accessibility, and better health coverage for hospital-based healthcare services from various private and group insurance plans.
Asia-Pacific: Fastest Growing Regional Market
North America is estimated to command the largest share of the global rapid diagnostics market in 2022, followed by Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. However, Asia-Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing regional market due to the growing geriatric population, the rising prevalence of infectious & chronic diseases, and various government initiatives to promote health awareness.
Key Players
The report includes a competitive landscape based on an extensive assessment of the key strategic developments adopted by leading market participants in the industry over the past four years. The key players profiled in the global rapid diagnostics market report include Abbott Laboratories (U.S.), Becton, Dickinson and Company (U.S.), Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (U.S.), F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. (Switzerland), ACON Laboratories, Inc. (U.S.), Creative Diagnostics (U.S.), Danaher Corporation (U.S.), Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (U.S.), BioMérieux S.A. (France), Alfa Scientific Designs, Inc. (U.S.), BTNX Inc. (Canada), Meridian Bioscience, Inc. (U.S.), and Trinity Biotech plc (Ireland).
Scope of the Report
Rapid Diagnostics Market, by Product
- Kits
- OTC Kits
- Professional Kits
- Equipment
Rapid Diagnostics Market, by Platform
- Immunoassays
- Lateral Flow Assays
- Serological Assays
- Other Immunoassays
- Molecular Detection
- Other Platforms
(Note – Other Immunoassays includes flow through immunoassays and agglutination assays; and Other platforms mainly include coagulation tests, glucose monitoring systems, dipsticks, and other rapid diagnostic platforms)
Rapid Diagnostics Market, by Application
- Infectious Diseases Testing
- COVID-19 Testing
- Healthcare-associated Infections (HAI) Testing
- Hepatitis Testing
- Tropical Diseases Testing
- HIV Testing
- Respiratory Diseases Testing (other than Influenza and COVID-19)
- Influenza Testing
- Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) Testing
- Other Infectious Diseases Testing
- Pregnancy & Fertility Testing
- Cardiac Metabolism Testing
- Cholesterol Testing
- Tumor/Cancer Markers Testing
- Blood Glucose Testing
- Urinalysis
- Hematology Testing
- Other Tests
(Note – Other tests include drugs of abuse, fecal occult, and coagulation tests; Other infectious disease testing include meningitis, norovirus (“stomach flu”), hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), and pertussis)
Rapid Diagnostics Market, by End User
- Hospitals & Clinics
- Diagnostic Laboratories
- Home Care/Self Testing
- Other End Users
Global Rapid Diagnostics Market, by Geography
- North America
- Europe
- Germany
- U.K.
- France
- Italy
- Spain
- Rest of Europe (RoE)
- Asia-Pacific (APAC)
- China
- Japan
- India
- Rest of APAC (RoAPAC)
- Latin America
- Middle East & Africa
Key questions answered in the report:
