Spatial Biology Market Report - First Edition: 2022

This report provides an overview of the spatial biology market from 2022 to 2027. The spatial biology market, as defined in this report, is comprised of revenue from instruments and reagents sold to academic, biopharma, and CRO customers, along with service revenues generated by CROs and reference labs. This market is moderately consolidated today, with the top vendors including 10X Genomics, NanoString, and Akoya Biosciences making up ~50% of the market, however, multiple other mid-sized and smaller-sized players (e.g., Standard BioTools, Leica Microsystems, Ultivue, and Vizgen) are poised to capture share are the market grows and evolves. 

For this report, we leverage a combination of secondary research (e.g., analysis of quarterly and annual reports, earnings call transcripts, clinical trials, congress abstracts, company websites, etc.) and primary research (e.g., 23 interviews with key spatial biology stakeholders from academia, biopharma, and leading specialty CROs) to assess the current and expected future adoption and utilization of spatial biology tools and technologies, and to characterize the key market dynamics.  From our research and analysis, we estimate that the spatial biology market is ~$320M in 2022 and is expected to grow 30% p.a. in the next 5 years, to reach ~$1.2B by 2027.** Our analysis indicates continued market growth within academia and rapid expansion in use by biopharma and CROs, particularly for use within clinical trials. 

For each of the subsegments analyzed, we present forecasted data from 2022-2027. In addition, we detail market drivers (e.g., increased adoption in certain customer segments) and moderators (e.g., high cost of instruments and reagents), market trends (interest in combining spatial transcriptomics with proteomics), a high-level customer breakdown (academia, large pharma, small pharma, CROs), and offer key information on top competitors. 

All analyses are based on publicly reported data and DeciBio research and analysis.*

* Disclaimer: Some of the companies listed in this report may be DeciBio Consulting clients and customers; ** We do believe that uncertainty to these forecasts exist (potential range: 20-45% p.a.), considering that the field is relatively young and pivotal developments may occur within the forecasted period that could determine future adoption of the technology. 

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Drivers

1. ‍Early Validation: Early data reinforces the utility and novel biological insights derived from spatial analyses; the rise in immuno-oncology provides an optimal application for spatial analysis tools

1. Better Tools: Improvements in the capabilities, ease of access, and flexibility of platforms and chemistries spurs adoption / utilization
2. Digital Pathology: Advances in analytical capabilities via digital pathology and AI-based image analysis algorithms enable deep insight generation
3. Industry Excitement: Hype (and funding) for spatial technologies and companies drives interest these novel tools

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Moderators

1. Data Immaturity: Lack of large, prospective, primary outcomes clinical data for spatial signatures disincentivizes adoption in the clinic today
2. Cost: High cost per assay (e.g., up to $5K per slide), and bioinformatics costs (e.g., up to another $5K per slide or more for multiple analyses)
3. Scalability Concerns: Though efforts have been made to increase throughput, it is still limited (e.g., ~20 slides / day for a 3-6-plex mIF slide, versus as low as 1 slide / day for 20+ plex)
4. Immature Infrastructure: Regulatory and payor policies are not adapted to support high-plex tissue analysis; additionally, adoption of the physical platforms that support such analyses is limited
   

Report Scope

Technologies and Revenues Included:

• Spatial Biology - the study of biology and pathophysiology in which the spatial context of the analytes is taken into consideration (including both single-and multiplex spatial analyses)
• Technology classes which are designed to profile and analyze multiplex biomarkers in situ including includes mIF, mIHC, digital-spatial profiling, multiplex FISH, and imaging mass cytometry
• Instrument, reagent revenues associated with the purchase of spatial biology platforms or reagents / kits used to run the assays, and service revenues associated with wet-lab processing of spatial slides (e.g., by CROs / Reference Labs)
• Sales of products and services to academic, biotech / pharmaceutical companies, and CRO customers including both therapeutic companies and diagnostic / analytical tools companies

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Technologies and Revenues Excluded:

• Digital pathology / image analysis in which automated image analysis, algorithms, or pathologist-supported software is used to perform whole slide image analysis of any sort

                    • 3rd Party Image Analysis image analysis performed by a standalone image analysis company not                      included in pricing

• Service revenue related CDx development
• Histology testing without spatial analyses including multiplex assays which analyze presence or intensity of analytes only

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