Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Market (By Product: Manual Tests, Automated Instruments, Consumables & Media; By Technique; By Application; By End-use) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, Revenue, Regional Outlook and Forecast 2023-2032

The global antimicrobial susceptibility testing market was estimated at USD 3.44 billion in 2022 and it is expected to surpass around USD 5.69 billion by 2032, poised to grow at a CAGR of 5.16% from 2023 to 2032.

Key Pointers

• Based on the product, the manual tests segment held the largest market share of 53.29% in 2022. 
• Based on technique, the disk diffusion segment dominated the market in 2022 with a revenue share of 41.42%. The market growth can be attributed to various advantages such as ease of usage and cost-effectiveness. 
• The automated AST segment is projected to showcase the fastest growth rate over the forecast period as it offers the opportunity to predict drug resistance along with susceptibility testing. 
• The susceptibility testing segment held the largest revenue share of 38.52% in 2022. The market share is attributed to the high prevalence of infectious diseases, increasing drug resistance, and rising adoption of AST to identify regimens for individual patients. 
• Drug development is projected to showcase the fastest CAGR over the forecast period 2023-2032. The market growth is attributed to a growing focus on drug discovery due to the rising prevalence of drug-resistant infectious diseases, the growing geriatric population, and increasing R&D activities to develop novel therapeutics for these diseases. 
• Based on end-use, hospitals dominated the market, registering a 38.63% share of the market in 2022. The market growth is attributed to increasing hospital-acquired infections and rising cases of multi-drug resistant infectious diseases due to misuse and overuse of antibiotics and lack of awareness about the usage of antibiotics, mainly in developing regions.
• North America dominated the overall market in 2022 with a revenue share of 46.31% and is anticipated to maintain its dominance throughout the forecast period. The rising cases of infectious diseases, growing antimicrobial-resistant conditions, and the increasing number of research activities related to introducing novel treatments for infections in the region are expected to drive regional market growth.
• The Asia Pacific region is projected to grow at the fastest CAGR over the forecast period. The rising number of activities related to research & development of novel therapeutics for infections, improving the healthcare sector, and government initiatives to reduce the disease burden are key factors driving the regional market growth.

Report Scope of the Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Market

The growth is primarily attributed to the growing opportunities owing to advancement in technology, increasing R&D activities by leading participants, and increasing penetration of antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) in diagnosis and identification of effective treatment options. In addition, the increasing adoption of antimicrobial susceptibility testing in various applications such as drug discovery & development, susceptibility testing in clinical laboratories, and personalized medicine are the leading factors propelling growth.

The increasing prevalence of infectious diseases such as pneumonia and bloodstream infections due to a lack of proper sanitization and an unhygienic diet is further boosting the growth over the forecast period. Moreover, favorable initiatives undertaken by government bodies to combat AMR is anticipated to boost the demand for antimicrobial susceptibility testing over the forecast period. For instance, in October 2020, the U.S. government updated its National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (CARB) 2020-2025 to improve health services by prioritizing infection prevention and optimizing the use of antibiotics in the treatment of these diseases.

Moreover, the rising focus of key players on various strategic initiatives such as mergers & acquisitions and the launching of new products is further expected to drive the market growth over the forecast period. For instance, in May 2022, Qualigen Therapeutics entered into an agreement to acquire a majority stake in NanoSynex. NanoSynex has developed an AST platform to help faster identification of antibiotics for patient infections. Such initiatives are expected to increase growth in the coming years.

Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the AST industry adversely due to disruption in the supply chain and restrictions imposed by government bodies across the globe. However, COVID-19 opened new opportunities for the market, as many studies stated that antimicrobial susceptibility testing helps find optimal antibiotics in a shorter span for treating COVID-19 disease. According to the National Library of Medicine, a direct rapid antibiotic susceptibility test (dRAST) helps enable earlier & optimal antibiotic treatments for bacteremia in COVID-19 patients.

However, factors such as the high cost of technologically advanced products & automated instruments, the time gap determining clinical breakpoints, approving novel antimicrobial drugs, and the complex approval process of these products may hamper the market growth over the forecast period.

Product Insights

Based on the product, the manual tests segment held the largest market share of 53.29% in 2022. The high market share of the segment can be attributed to ease of availability and lower cost as compared to automated testing. Moreover, the growing prevalence rate of infectious diseases such as Shigella, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Neisseria meningitides, and others are increasing the adoption of AST, which is expected to drive the segment growth over the forecast period.

However, automated testing is projected to grow at the fastest CAGR over the forecast period due to high accuracy and a lesser number of errors. Moreover, improving healthcare infrastructure, rising healthcare expenditure and technological advancements in testing instruments are further increasing market growth. Key players in the market are focusing on various strategic initiatives such as developing and launching new products to increase their dominance in the market. For instance, in April 2022, COPAN Diagnostics demonstrated its full range of automated solutions for identification & antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) at the 32nd European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2022).

Technique Insights

Based on technique, the disk diffusion segment dominated the market in 2022 with a revenue share of 41.42%. The market growth can be attributed to various advantages such as ease of usage and cost-effectiveness. Moreover, it offers the possibility of executing direct susceptibility testing (DST), which shortens the turnaround time. However, the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC), and the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) have criticized DST as the inoculum used in such tests is not standardized.

The automated AST segment is projected to showcase the fastest growth rate over the forecast period as it offers the opportunity to predict drug resistance along with susceptibility testing. AST is a time-consuming process, but automation increases the speed of testing and repeatability. Moreover, the growing demand for personalized medicines further boosts the segment’s growth.

Application Insights

The susceptibility testing segment held the largest revenue share of 38.52% in 2022. The market share is attributed to the high prevalence of infectious diseases, increasing drug resistance, and rising adoption of AST to identify regimens for individual patients. Moreover, growing government initiatives to raise awareness about antimicrobial testing further fuel market growth. The growing prevalence of healthcare-associated infection (HAI) also increases the adoption of ASTs for the detection of microbes and effective treatment selection.

As per the report of CDC, there was a significant increase in the prevalence rate of HAIs such as VAE (12%), CAUTI (5%), MRSA (14%), CLABSI (7%), and SSI-HYST (11%), and between the year 2020 and 2021.

However, drug development is projected to showcase the fastest CAGR over the forecast period 2023-2032. The market growth is attributed to a growing focus on drug discovery due to the rising prevalence of drug-resistant infectious diseases, the growing geriatric population, and increasing R&D activities to develop novel therapeutics for these diseases. Increasing initiatives by the government to expand the pharmaceutical sector further boost the market growth over the forecast period. Moreover, increasing adoption of AST by pharmaceutical companies in clinical & preclinical drug development process is anticipated to increase the segment growth.

End-use Insights

Based on end-use, hospitals dominated the market, registering a 38.63% share of the market in 2022. The market growth is attributed to increasing hospital-acquired infections and rising cases of multi-drug resistant infectious diseases due to misuse and overuse of antibiotics and lack of awareness about the usage of antibiotics, mainly in developing regions. Susceptibility tests for different antimicrobials are also performed to identify suspected infections. In such cases, AST tests are highly effective in detecting the resistivity and sensitivity of microbes and help to choose the effective regimen.

However, the biotechnology & pharmaceutical companies segment is projected to grow at the fastest rate over the forecast period due to the rising focus on developing novel & effective treatments for infectious diseases. Furthermore, the increasing adoption of automated goods such as AST panels and cards and automated systems offers faster processing, higher accuracy, and improved work process, which further boosts the segment growth.

Growing adoption of personal medicines is fueling the market growth as AST are performed by healthcare professionals to detect antimicrobial regimes which are majorly effective for specific individuals. Technological advancements in AST, which promote higher efficacy and accuracy, further boost the segment's growth.

Regional Insights

North America dominated the overall market in 2022 with a revenue share of 46.31% and is anticipated to maintain its dominance throughout the forecast period. The rising cases of infectious diseases, growing antimicrobial-resistant conditions, and the increasing number of research activities related to introducing novel treatments for infections in the region are expected to drive regional market growth.

For instance, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 35,000 people die due to multi-drug-resistant diseases every year in the U.S. The increasing number of multidrug-resistant diseases boosts the need for antimicrobial susceptibility testing in the region.

However, the Asia Pacific region is projected to grow at the fastest CAGR over the forecast period. The rising number of activities related to research & development of novel therapeutics for infections, improving the healthcare sector, and government initiatives to reduce the disease burden are key factors driving the regional market growth. Moreover, increasing the adoption of tailored therapeutic options for treating infectious diseases is anticipated to boost the demand for antimicrobial susceptibility testing in the region.

Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Market Segmentations:

By Product

• Manual Tests
  • MIC Strips
  • Susceptibility Testing Disks
  • Susceptibility Plates
• Automated Instruments
• Consumables & Media

By Technique

• Automated AST
• Etest Method
• Dilution
• Disk Diffusion
• Others

By Application

• Drug Development
• Susceptibility Testing
• Others

By End-use

• Hospitals
• Diagnostic Laboratories
• Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Companies
• Others

By Regional

• North America
  • U.S.
  • Canada
• Europe
  • U.K.
  • Germany
  • France
  • Spain
  • Italy
  • Sweden
  • Norway
  • Denmark
• Asia Pacific
  • China
  • Japan
  • India
  • South Korea
  • Australia
  • Thailand
• Latin America
  • Brazil
  • Mexico
  • Argentina
• MEA
  • South Africa
  • Saudi Arabia
  • UAE
  • Kuwait