Molecular diagnostics, according to Yale University, “...involves taking DNA or RNA… and analyzing the sequences for red flags that can pinpoint the potential of an emergent disease.”
In 2020, the size of the global molecular diagnostics market was $36.2 billion, according to this April 2021 report from Grand View Research. What is driving the growth of the market? There are several factors, including the greater prevalence of both infectious disease and cancer as well as growing interest in preventive medicine. And there is more money being poured into research and development in this area.
This Resolute Research report highlights activity in the molecular diagnostics market over the past five years (July 1, 2016, to July 1, 2021) for research associates, strategists, and business development and marketing experts from the biotechnology and life sciences industries.
All information and visualizations have been extracted from ResoluteAI’s Foundation platform.
75 clinical trials involving molecular diagnostics
started over the past five years, but only 4 have been completed.
Those trials focused on broad-spectrum antibiotic, DNA sequencing, multiplex polymerase chain reaction, and T790M (a gatekeeper mutation). Most of the trials, however, still appear to be in the recruiting phase, and the bulk of those are on DNA sequencing and DNA extraction.
Top ten facilities conducting molecular diagnostics clinical trials and its sponsor name, and the status of the trial
997 molecular diagnostics companies in Crunchbase
337 companies received funding in the last five years
The top five investors that provided funding of $100,000,000 or more towards companies developing products in molecular diagnostics: iCarbonX, RA Capital Management, TPG Biotech, Versant Ventures, Visium Healthcare Partners.
Top five investors and the stages they invested in companies
34 tech transfer opportunities
regarding molecular diagnostics were made available for licensing in the last five years.
In our analysis of 300+ university tech transfer sites: 9 licensing opportunities came from Stanford University. The University of Arizona and the University of Pennsylvania followed with four tech transfers each.
Number of tech transfer opportunities for the top 10 organizations
300 academic grants were awarded
by government agencies to fund molecular diagnostics research
Upon review of grant award recipients documented in NIH, NSF, SBIR, Horizon 2020, and Wellcome: 11 grants were awarded to GeneTAG Technology Inc. While GeneTAG received the most grants, Redbud Labs Inc. was granted the most funding – approximately $3.35 million.
The number of grants awarded for molecular diagnostics has decreased sharply since 2019 from 151 to 133 in 2020 with 2021 on the same track.
Top 5 organizations that received grants. Note - $0 represents grants less than $100,000
527 researchers
are working in the area of molecular diagnostics
In our network of 350+ leading academic institutions, we found the universities with the most researchers exploring molecular diagnostics by research area. Cornell University has the most researchers in molecular diagnostics followed by Johns Hopkins University and Yale University.
The top areas of research in molecular diagnostics and their associated connections include pathology, anatomical pathology, and PCR as the main areas of focus for these researchers.
Top institutions with the most researchers in molecular diagnostics by research area
3,961 patents were submitted/granted
in the last five years involving molecular diagnostics
10X Genomics Inc had the most patents granted in the last five years followed closely by Cerner Innovation Inc.
Top five patent assignees for the period including filing status and publication date
11,000 peer-reviewed publications
related to molecular diagnostics were made publicly available
The network graph below indicates that the top five research topics in publications were: Polymerase chain reaction (1951), Assay (1945), Mutation (1621), DNA (1572), and Virus (1045).
This network graph shows the connections between the top research topics for molecular diagnostics.
14,881 news articles published
since the beginning of 2020 involving molecular diagnostics
The top five companies mentioned most recently in the news were: Qiagen NV (1,681), Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc (1,589), Roche Holding AG (1,463), BioMerieux (1,255), Abbott Laboratories (1,326). Qiagen NV had the most articles, and most of those concerned polymerase chain reaction.
Top 5 companies most often mention in news regarding molecular diagnostics by research area
The top five universities mentioned most recently in the news were: University of Oxford (71), Stanford University (64), University of Cambridge (49), Harvard University (43), Washington University (39). The University of Oxford had the most articles, and most of those concerned ELISA.
Top 5 universities most often mention in news regarding molecular diagnostics by research area
Molecular diagnostics - Forging new paths
According to our research, while grants on molecular diagnostics are decreasing, private investment is on the rise. Most of the investment in molecular diagnostics companies in the past five years has focused on PCR and that looks to continue.
According to Kalorama Information, “The sector has seen significant advancements and most popular technologies used for developing molecular diagnostics tests include nucleic acid amplification technologies including polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and other NAAT methods…”. It adds that “... the molecular diagnostics market has expanded by meeting clinical needs unmet or never envisioned with other major testing disciplines.”
Molecular diagnostic companies funding trend
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