Amersham Biosciences Ranked Top Supplier in Bioassays Market

Amersham Biosciences is the company that scientists most often think of in regards to a supplier for bioassay kits and reagents. Invitrogen (NASDAQ:IVGN), Bio-Rad (AMEX:BIO) and Sigma-Aldrich (NASDAQ:SIAL) are other companies that scientists recognize as leading suppliers of bioassay products.

ARLINGTON, VA -- June 22, 2002 -- Amersham Biosciences is the company that scientists most often think of in regards to a supplier for bioassay kits and reagents. Invitrogen (NASDAQ:IVGN), Bio-Rad (AMEX:BIO) and Sigma-Aldrich (NASDAQ:SIAL) are other companies that scientists recognize as leading suppliers of bioassay products.

These findings were uncovered in a multi-part survey of more than 1,700 scientists engaged in drug discovery research. BioInformatics, LLC (Arlington, VA), a leading provider of market research to the biotechnology industry, recently published six reports in its series, The Tools & Techniques of Drug Discovery." The fourth report in the series, Bioassays," reflects the opinions of over 440 qualified scientists on their use of in vitro protein and cell-based assays. The other integrated reports, which can be purchased individually or as a set, investigate the markets for DNA sequencing, bioinformatics, DNA microarrays, high-throughput screening and nuclear magnetic resonance.

We provide suppliers with the most comprehensive overview of the tools and techniques currently in use, while highlighting problem areas that represent the most exciting opportunities. Current suppliers and those interested in entering the market will be encouraged to know that given the importance of bioassays to their research, respondents are willing to invest a substantial portion of their total annual budget to supporting products and services dedicated to them. In fact, many respondents labs spend 21% to 50% of their total annual budget on bioassay related essentials," says Bill Kelly, President of BioInformatics, LLC.

In relation to the bioassays market, the report provides detailed data on product usage and applications, most important product features, preferred suppliers, definitions of product quality, levels of satisfaction with current products and unmet needs according to scientists. Rather than only listening to a few thought-leaders, we believe that to really understand the market, bioassay suppliers need to actually listen to the scientists that purchase and rely upon their products and services on a regular basis," says Kelly.

There are a number of characteristics that make a bioassay suitable for high-throughput approaches such as those employing microplates and microplate readers. For instance, the bioassay must be translatable to a multi-well format. It must also be robust, reproducible and produce a simple readout. Many different kinds of bioassays have these features, including protein-protein interactions and cell-based models. Homogeneous bioassay methods have also become indispensable for increased throughput capability and for assay miniaturization.

In regards to critical, but non-technical, purchasing factors of in vitro protein assays, both price and brand name and/or company reputation each secured one quarter of the responses. This relatively equal emphasis on cost and brand loyalty suggests that for similarly priced assay kits, respondents prefer to buy them from suppliers that are well known to them. However, many respondents believe that the high cost of assay kits and/or reagents is an obstacle to conducting their in vitro protein research," explains Tamara Zemlo, PhD, Director of Scientific & Medical Communications for The Science Advisory Board.

Scientists also expressed frustration with technical problems they face when performing their experiments. For example, When conducting multiple cell-based assays, respondents are plagued by both irreproducibility and variable assay performance when using different cell types. These interrelated problems limit an assays effectiveness and explain respondents emphasis on the value of having access to technical personal at assay companies to help troubleshoot these two problems," notes Zemlo.

ABOUT BIOINFORMATICS, LLC

BioInformatics, LLC (http://www.gene2drug.com) is a market research firm located in Arlington, Virginia. BioInformatics supports marketing, sales and R&D executives in the life science, medical device and pharmaceutical industries through published research reports, custom research and consulting. BioInformatics sponsors The Science Advisory Board (http://www.scienceboard.net), an online panel of more than 12,000 scientists, physicians and other life science and medical professionals from 62 countries who participate in surveys that address emerging technologies, test customer reactions to new product concepts, measure brand awareness and assess advertising effectiveness.

For a complimentary Executive Summary of any of the six reports in the drug discovery series, please visit http://www.gene2drug.com/published or contact:

Alyssa Martin
BioInformatics, LLC
2111 Wilson Blvd. Suite 1200
Arlington, VA 22201
703.525.3872 x358 phone
703.522.3685 fax
a.martin@gene2drug.com
http://www.gene2drug.com/

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