The global stem cell market is expected to go up to over $170 billion by 2020 from an estimated 37.88 billion in 2013, according to data by USA-based market research and consultancy company Grand View Research.
The increase would represent a annualized a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24% over the period.
Key drivers for the grow are expected to be a stem cells’ increasing use for drug discovery and development, available government support and the unmet demand on behalf of medical institutions across the globe.
The market revenue, which in 2012 stood at $30.6 billion, is also driven by a “growing demand for regenerative treatment options and the rising number of R&D initiatives involving stem cells to develop therapeutic options catering to the rising prevalence of chronic diseases”, as stated in a document provided to FTI by Grand View Research.
The research forecasts that the regenerative medicine market will demonstrate the largest growth, driven by a rising demand for stem cells used for the treatment and research and treatment of Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s Chorea.
As key challenges to the market, the report identified high costs of stem cell treatment and restrictive government policies in certain areas, including cell harvesting. Treatment remains restrictively expensive with costs ranging anywhere between a couple of hundred thousand to millions of dollars.
The high costs make stem cell treatment a choice of last resort available to a select group of individuals worldwide, a situation which is expected to change by the end of the forecast period, “as widespread availability of stem cell therapy will make the treatment affordable”.
In terms of segmentation, the market has been traditionally dominated by the adult stem cell market, which in 2013 represented 86% of the industry worth $32.6 billion.
It was followed by human embryonic stem cells with 8.4% and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) with 2.6%.
“Low contamination probability during expansion and sub-culture, relatively low production labor associated and better acceptance by human body are some of the factors which attribute to adult stem cells market holding the largest market share. However, the pluripotent stem cells market is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 25.4% during the forecast period majorly on account of its autologous nature of origin.”, the report said.
