2018 China's third-party medical diagnosis industry analysis: molecular diagnosis is the development trend of medical diagnosis


Independent Medical Laboratory (ICL): also known as third-party testing, independent of the medical institutions to provide medical testing services independent company. Its core is economies of scale, that is, through the economies of scale, unit costs, access to cost advantages, quality advantages and technological advantages can be achieved so as to achieve multi-win-win situations and reduce medical expenses. Its emergence not only solves the problem of outsourcing inspection in small and medium-sized medical institutions, but also solves the problem that large hospitals have to carry out loss testing projects due to social needs and is now an indispensable part of the medical service system.

In 2001, Guangzhou Golden Domain Inspection first commercialized the independent medical laboratory model, thus unveiling the development of independent medical laboratory in our country. Since then, China's independent medical laboratory spread rapidly across the country. The data show that in 2001, there were only 2 independent medical laboratories in our country and increased to 468 in 2016. Among them, it passed ISO15189 "Medical Laboratory - Special Requirements for Quality and Ability" There are 235 guidelines (ISO15189 is the highest level of the current domestic medical laboratory accreditation standards, the highest international standards refer to the United States CAP). It is estimated that in 2017 China's independent medical laboratory is expected to exceed 600.

Third-party medical diagnostic industry development characteristics

From the perspective of the development of the third-party medical diagnosis industry, it mainly has the advantages of first mover and brand, and has some characteristics such as certain service radius, asset-light operation and scarce high-end talent. Specifically:

First mover advantage and brand effect: Since the medical diagnosis is directly related to the doctor's diagnosis and treatment of the patient's disease and involves the safety of life, the state has very strict requirements on the third-party diagnostic enterprises. This has a very big advantage for the leading enterprises in the industry. In addition, due to the particularity of the industry, pioneering enterprises have accumulated experience in safety, timeliness and other aspects and will give priority to obtaining the trust of customers when competing so as to have a strong brand effect.

Service radius: The order of medical diagnosis service is characterized by scattered customers, large quantity, small single amount, high frequency and short sample placing time, which makes testing timeliness and logistics cost sensitive to the distance of independent medical laboratories and has certain Service radius, usually up to about 400 kilometers.

Light asset management: In order to reduce the risk brought by the chain expansion in different places, many enterprises in the industry adopt the mode of operation of light assets (rent houses to provide office and provide diagnostic services); and many diagnostic devices are provided by manufacturers with instruments.

Scarcity of high-end talent: Since most high-end professionals work in large-scale medical institutions, the scarcity of qualified personnel and the high cost of hiring are high.

Seasonal features: Third-party medical diagnostic industry has a certain seasonal characteristics. Mainly reflected in: Spring and autumn each year are often the peak of various diseases and physical examination peak, which led to medical diagnostic services to enhance; subject to climate factors and the "Spring Festival" and other holidays, the annual January and February are medical diagnostic services The light period.

Third-party medical diagnostic industry competition

Third-party medical diagnosis industry belongs to technology-intensive and capital-intensive industries, and both countries and places have strict industry access and regulatory policies with high barriers to entry and regional barriers. In our country, medical testing is still mainly done in hospitals. According to the forward industry research institute estimates, the current market size of independent medical laboratories accounts for about 3% of the total clinical testing scale, which is a big gap compared with 35% of mature countries.

Molecular diagnosis is the development trend of medical diagnosis

According to Marketsandmarkets, the global molecular diagnostics market in 2011 is estimated to be about 4.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2011 and 7.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2016, with a compound annual growth rate of nearly 10%. According to Marketsandmarkets, the market for molecular diagnostics is mature in the world, with 70% of the global market concentrated in the United States. high speed.

Domestic molecular diagnosis started late, the market is smaller, but very strong growth for the fastest growing in vitro diagnostic subdivision areas. In 2010, the market scale of molecular diagnosis in China was only about 1 billion yuan, reaching 3 billion yuan in 2014. With the market breakthrough in areas such as non-invasive screening, the market size in 2015 was about 4.5 billion and in 2016 it exceeded 6 billion, accounting for the entire in vitro diagnosis About 17% of the market, the rapid development. With the continuous development of clinical application, the growth of the industry is expected to maintain more than 25% in a long time.

Gene sequencing has the most potential for development

Molecular diagnosis from a technical point of view, mainly divided into gene sequencing, gene chips and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and so on. Among them, the clinical application of gene sequencing technology is extensive, and the corresponding diseased populations in tumor monitoring, cardiovascular field, NIPT, PGS / PGD and so on have a large number of developmental space. With the gradual reduction of the cost of second-generation sequencing, various clinical applications Detection of permeability have achieved steady improvement, the development of the brightest prospects. In terms of technology itself, compared with other molecular diagnostic techniques, sequencing has the advantages of high throughput, comprehensive detection information and high accuracy, and has the most potential for sustained explosion in the future.