Global aptamer market to increase by a massive 106.3%

The global aptamer market has been forecast to increase at an exceptional compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 106.3% over the next five years, increasing from a valuation of nearly $99 million in 2012, to hit a market value of approximately $3.7 billion in 2017.

Although aptamers and their directed selection in the laboratory were described in 1990, their widespread acceptance in therapeutics and diagnostics is still being realised. Aptamers have a number of advantages over their antibody counterparts.

Perhaps most important in the therapeutic context, as nucleic acids, aptamers are readily chemically synthesised and therefore are comparably easy to characterise over antibodies produced by recombinant means.

For similar reasons, aptamers are readily developed and used by boutique developers of novel diagnostics and biosensors, and larger firms are beginning to take notice. Finally, several of the initial patents in the aptamer field have recently expired, or are set to soon expire, which will make for a change in the intellectual property landscape.

Nucleic acid aptamers are nucleic acid species that have been engineered through repeated rounds of in vitro selection or equivalently, SELEX (systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment) to bind to various molecular targets such as small molecules, proteins, nucleic acids, and even cells, tissues and organisms. Aptamers are useful in biotechnological and therapeutic applications as they offer molecular recognition properties that rival that of the commonly used biomolecule, antibodies.

The therapeutics segment of this market is expected to have a value of $13 million in 2012 and $1.7 billion in 2017, a CAGR of 165%. The aptamer-based in-vitro diagnostics segment should total $86 million in 2012 and $2 billion in 2017, a CAGR of 87.6%.

For more information on the global aptamer market, see the latest research: Global Aptamer Market

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