Why DNA testing kit makers are investing in China
China’s DNA sequencing market is expected to grow to 18.3b yuan by 2022 from 7.2b yuan last year, much faster than the overall global market because of rising income and growing investments in health care infrastructure, studies show
China’s DNA testing market is attracting rising investment from equipment makers seeking to capture a slice of the young but fast growing market with applications ranging from cancer detection and treatment to prenatal screening.
The nation’s DNA sequencing market, worth about 7.2 billion yuan (US$1.05 billion) last year, is forecast to grow to 18.3 billion yuan in 2022, according to projections by Beijing-based CCID Consulting two months ago.
Globally, the market could reach US$22 billion by 2024, according to another report released by the consulting firm Global Market Insights in June.
The global market is currently worth around US$3 billion a year, Gordon Sanghera, chief executive of British DNA sequencing machine maker Oxford Nanopore Technologies, told the Post last month.
China is expected to grow faster than the overall global market because of rising income and growing investments in health care infrastructure, according to Global Market Insights, which said cancer diagnosis was the biggest market segment worldwide last year.
“Early detection of cancer is very interesting, but it still needs a lot of work,” Zhou Wei, CEO of California-based Centrillion Technologies, said in an interview. “But in terms of helping doctors identify which medication is suitable for patients, it is getting pretty good.”