The European bioinformatics industry is competing in a growing market, which is dominated by a few large vendors. Bioinformatics has varied applications in the drug discovery market, including proteomic, genomic and information manipulation applications. Most of the life sciences organisations involved in the process of drug discovery adopt bioinformatics in varying degrees in their routine process. Accordingly, the growth rates in the bioinformatics market are modest yet steady.

Frost & Sullivan (www.healthcare.frost.com) finds that the European Bioinformatics Market earned revenues of $392 million in 2006 and estimates to grow to $955.2 million in 2013.

“The large amount of data generated in the process of drug discovery is creating greater demand for improved data handling tools,” notes Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Mr. Vinod S.M. “It is impossible for professionals to handle and analyse data without the use of advanced computational tools.”

Bioinformatics has been able to constantly develop new tools that are capable of handling high-end voluminous data, thereby facilitating the work of life sciences professionals. Moreover, given the reducing drug pipelines in the European pharmaceutical industry, companies are looking for tools to increase drug research productivity. This demand from pharmaceutical and life sciences companies is another factor influencing the bioinformatics market favourably.

A key factor restraining market growth is the resistance of European companies in adopting new technologies. “Undoubtedly, bioinformatics offers the best forms of application to life sciences companies for the simplification of the drug discovery process,” explains Mr. Vinod. “However, the conservative attitude of European companies is affecting market growth.”

Apart from this, as various companies use different data formats, proprietary and incompatible data formats limit the value of bioinformatics. Moreover, the tools presently used in the European bioinformatics industry mostly serve specialised end users. As these tools require a technical skill set, researches who are directly involved in the R&D process do not get to use the bioinformatics tools.

As a result, all professionals utilising the tools need periodical training on the functioning of the tools to enable them to take full advantage of the functionality. Thus, continuous training and support for life sciences professionals will help drive market growth.

Market participants should also look to acquire or form alliances with companies that can help them broaden their product portfolio, rather than increase their market share. By expanding their product portfolio, smaller companies can hope to actively compete with larger multi-modality vendors.