US market forecast for stem cell technology

According to a new technical market research report, 'Stem cell technology: current applications and future directions' from BCC Research, the US market for stem cell technology is expected to increase from $112 million in 2007 to $423.1 million in 2012, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.5%.

The market is divided into cellular therapeutics and therapeutic banking categories. Stem cells in therapeutic banking have the larger share of the market, worth $65.9 million in 2007 and expected to increase to $155.7 million in 2012, for a CAGR of 18.8%.

Cellular therapeutics should be the faster growing segment. Cellular therapeutics generated $46.1 million in 2007 and is expected to generate $267.4 million in 2012, a CAGR of 42.1%.

The advent of stem cell technology has reignited the regenerative medicine market with hopes of powerful new therapeutics geared towards addressing unmet healthcare needs such as cardiovascular disease, neurological diseases, metabolic diseases, organ failure, a wide range of injuries, and even age related degeneration.

Although stem cell based therapeutics hold great promise, the delivery of actual readily available treatments is still projected to be at least five if not 10 or more years away. People looking to capitalise on the potential future therapeutic applications of stem cells have been preserving their stem cells, and stem cell banking has become a slow but growing market.

Stem cell research and development will continue to play a significant role in the present and future commercialisation of stem cell based products and services and may develop into a substantial parallel market to stem cell based therapeutics as these tools mature, and potentially move into adjacent life science markets such as pharmaceutical testing and drug discovery.