Live Cell Imaging Market

Updated on : February 20, 2023

The global live cell imaging market in terms of revenue was estimated to be worth $1.8 billion in 2020 and is poised to reach $2.8 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 8.8% from 2020 to 2025. Growing adoption of high-content screening techniques in drug discovery and rising incidence of cancer primarily drives the market for live cell imaging. The growth in research funding and rising government funding and investment in regenerative medicine research will also support the market growth in the coming years. However, the high cost of high-content screening systems is limiting the overall adoption of these products.

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Live Cell Imaging Market Dynamics

Drivers: Growing adoption of high-content screening techniques in drug discovery

The traditional method of toxicity and drug safety studies involves the screening of large libraries through high-throughput screening. This method is expensive, has a low success rate, and is resource- and time-consuming. To overcome these challenges, pharmaceutical companies are increasingly adopting high-content screening (HCS) cell-based assays for identifying the effects of toxicity in drug development studies (cell-based imaging enables the monitoring of drug toxicity mechanisms, such as oxidative stress, micronuclei, mitochondrial dysfunction, steatosis, and apoptosis). The use of HCS makes the drug development process more time- and cost-efficient. Owing to these factors, the adoption of high-content screening for toxicity studies is expected to increase during the forecast period. This, in turn, is expected to drive market growth as live cell imaging is used in HCS to identify meaningful information from complex systems such as in vitro, in vivo, and ex vivo systems. 

Restraints: High cost of high-content screening systems

High-content screening (HCS) instruments are equipped with advanced features and functionalities and are, therefore, priced at a premium. A confocal microscope, for instance, can cost more than USD 250,000, and a wide-field microscope can cost more than USD 100,000. Similarly, the InCell 2000 Analyzer system (from GE Healthcare) used in HCS costs around USD 240,000. Academic research laboratories find it difficult to afford such high-priced instruments as they have restricted budgets. The high price of these instruments is also a concern for several pharmaceutical companies as they require multiple HCS systems in their R&D activities (thus increasing the total cost spent on these systems). In addition to the high procurement costs, the maintenance costs and several other indirect expenses increase the total cost of ownership of these instruments. This is one of the major factors limiting the adoption of live cell imaging instruments in clinical and research applications, especially in emerging countries. 

Opportunities: Untapped potential of emerging markets

Emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China are expected to offer significant opportunities for the growth of the live cell imaging market. This can primarily be attributed to the growing R&D funding for various research organizations in these countries. Currently, China accounts for about 20% of the global R&D spending and is the second-largest investor in R&D, globally, after the US. The country is projected to overtake the US in R&D spending by 2023 (Source: Council on Foreign Relations). Cost savings and a lack of regulations are among the most important drivers boosting preclinical activities in China. The growing funding and investments in life science research, availability of highly skilled personnel, and a favorable regulatory environment are the other major factors supporting this trend. Moreover, currently, China has many CROs that provide preclinical and clinical research services to multinational pharmaceutical companies. The growth of preclinical/clinical research in China is expected to augment the demand for live cell imaging in the country in the coming years. 

Challenges: Maintaining cell viability and the cellular environment in cell cultures

Running live cell imaging experiments successfully can be a major challenge. The conditions under which cells are maintained under microscopes decide the success or failure of the experiment. Therefore, maintaining living cells on slides is the most crucial part of the experiment. The cells used in experiments should be in good condition and function normally under a microscope in the presence of synthetic fluorophores or fluorescent proteins. Additionally, maintaining a constant cellular environment is very important during the experiment; the cells should be grown in culture media in a carbon dioxide incubator. Temperature also plays a crucial role in maintaining cell viability in a culture. Hence, as the cell viability and cellular environment are dependent on several specific requirements, the chances of a live cell imaging experiment being unsuccessful are high. 

Global Live Cell Imaging Market Interconnections

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The consumables segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period

Based on product & service, the global live cell imaging market is segmented into instruments, consumables, software, and services. The consumables segment, on the other hand, is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The need for the frequent purchase of consumables is expected to play a key role in the growth of the consumables market during the forecast period. 

The pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies segment accounted for the largest share of the live cell imaging market in the year 2019.

Based on end user, the global market is segmented into pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies, academic & research institutes, and contract research organizations (CROs). In 2019, pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies segment accounted for the largest share of the global market. The large share of this segment can be attributed to the increasing R&D activities and the patent cliff of various blockbuster drugs. 

The Asia Pacific region is expected to show the highest growth rate during the forecast period.

Geographically, the global live cell imaging market is segmented into North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. Asia Pacific is expected to show the highest growth rate during the forecast period. The high growth rate of this region can mainly be attributed to the factors such as the government initiatives for research on stem cell therapy, the rising prominence of regenerative medicine research, growth of preclinical/clinical research in China, favorable changes in foreign direct investment (FDI) regulations in the pharmaceutical industry in India, and growth of the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical sectors in South Korea. 

The leading players in this market include Danaher Corporation (US), Carl Zeiss AG (Germany), Nikon Corporation (Japan), Olympus Corporation (Japan), PerkinElmer, Inc. (US), GE Healthcare (US), Bruker Corporation (US), Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (US), Sartorius AG (Germany), Oxford Instruments (UK), BioTek Instruments (US), Etaluma, Inc. (US), CytoSMART Technologies (Netherlands), NanoEnTek Inc. (Korea), Phase Focus Limited (UK), Tomocube, Inc. (South Korea), Phase Holographic Imaging PHI AB (Sweden), BD Biosciences (US), Sony Biotechnology, Inc. (US), Merck KGaA (Germany), KEYENCE Corporation (Japan), ibidi GmbH (Germany), Bio-Rad Laboratories (US), Logos Biosystems (South Korea), and Nanolive SA (Switzerland).

Live Cell Imaging Market Report Scope:

The live cell imaging market research report categorizes the market into the following segments and sub-segments:

By Product & Service

• Instruments
• Microscopes
• Standalone Systems
• Cell Analyzers
• Accessories
• Consumables
• Reagents
• Assay Kits
• Media
• Other Consumables
• Software
• Services 

By Application

• Cell Biology
• Stem Cells
• Developmental Biology
• Drug Discovery 

By Technology

• Time-lapse Microscopy
• Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET)
• Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching (FRAP)
• High-content Screening (HCS)
• Other Technologies 

By End-User

• Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Companies
• Academic & Research Institutes
• Contract Research Organizations (CROs) 

By Region

• North America
  • US
  • Canada
• Europe
  • Germany
  • UK
  • France
  • Rest of Europe (RoE)
• Asia Pacific
  • Japan
  • China
  • India
  • Rest of Asia Pacific (RoAPAC)
• Latin America
• Middle East & Africa 

Recent Developments:

• In September 2020, CytoSMART Technologies (Netherlands) launched CytoSMART Multi Lux, a remote live cell imaging system.
• In July 2020, Etaluma, Inc. (US) partnered with INNOMED GmbH (Germany) to introduce entry-level incubator cell imaging to the Americas. Through the partnership, Etaluma strengthened its Lumascope offerings.
• In December 2019, Leica Microsystems (Germany) entered into agreement with European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) (Germany) to develop new imaging technologies applicable in life science.
• In April 2019, Nikon Corporation (Japan) launched two new silicone immersion objective lenses—the CFI Plan Apochromat Lambda S 25XC Sil and the CFI Plan Apochromat Lambda S 40XC Sil—for confocal laser microscope systems and Ti2 inverted research microscopes.
• In July 2018, Bruker Corporation (US) acquired JPK Instruments AG (Germany) to enhance its microscopy offerings. 

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