COVID-19 is a type of a communicable disease that created ripples throughout the world in early 2020, taking the lives of millions around the globe and infecting more. The disease is caused by SARS CoV-2, which is highly infectious and passes on through human interaction. The disease has been said to cause damage to upper and lower respiratory tract among other respiratory infections. The spread of the disease brought the world to a halt, affecting the medical device industry in almost every part of the world. The global epigenetics diagnostic market was impacted by the widespread of the disease. There were numerous unprecedented changes seen in the market and impacted the economy hugely.
The global epigenetics diagnosis market comprises reagents, kits, instruments & consumables, and enzymes. The epigenetic testing focuses on genetic changes other than changes in DNA sequence. It is a stream of genetics, which involves study of physiological and cellular trait variation initiated by ecological aspects, which in turn affect genes without being affected by changes in genotype. The high prevalence of cancer across the globe along with epigenetic modification base is propelling the growth of the epigenetics diagnostic market.
Impact on Price
There have been a whirlwind past months due to the emergence of COVID-19. The medical devices firms who are manufacturing test kits are facing financial challenges as the disease brought the whole world to a full stop. The sales of a few companies experienced a downfall while others managed to stay afloat.
According to PerkinElmer, Inc. annual report 2020 performance report, the diagnostics segment concerning genetic testing saw a strong performance, even during these unprecedented times. The diagnostics segmental revenue is primarily driven by the increase in COVID-19 product offering. The diagnostic segment experienced tremendous growth for immunodiagnostics and applied genomics COVID-19 products and reflecting an increase of 82%.
Hence, since the demand was high for these products; hence the price was not much impacted.
Impact On Demand
The coronavirus pandemic left a huge impact on the epigenetics diagnostic market owing to efficacy in its application. The emergence of COVID-19 set some significant operational changes in how the test kits are manufactured and supplied. With the increase in the incidence of COVID-19 itself and the existing prevalence of major chronic diseases, the demand for products increased at a faster rate.
For instance, according to PerkinElmer, Inc. 2020 annual report, the demand was high for applied genomics COVID-19 products and services and immunodiagnostics.
The rising demand for genetic testing has further increased the growth of the epigenetics diagnosis market.
Impact on Supply
As the world came to a halt for almost six months due to the emergence of COVID-19, the supply chain could not escape the impact. The governments throughout the globe imposed a total lockdown to contain the spread of the disease. Consequently, the supply chain and third-party logistics came to a standstill due to the closure of borders. Even though the demand for these products and tests were high, the availability was affected due to disruptions in the supply chain, trade, and travel restrictions. The supply of raw materials was also affected, due to which the production was restricted. Bottlenecks in the supply were foreseen due to limited production. Still, some companies managed to overcome the challenges and saw high growth.
KEY INITIATIVES BY MARKET PLAYERS DURING COVID 19
As the reality of COVID-19 dawned upon the world, the manufacturers and production units of the companies in the global epigenetics diagnosis market swiftly planned for strategies to cope with the effect of the crisis. Major players in the market took various initiatives to cope up with the situation.
- In September 2021, Zymo Research Corporation received CE IVD mark for its EZ DNA methylation-lightning kit allowing the technology to be distributed within the European Union (EU) common market. This will help the company to expand and recognize and thereby sustain footprints in the market globally.
- In January 2021, Diagenode, a Hologic company launched a new small RNA-sequencing solution, D-Plex Small RNA DNBSEQ Kit, optimized and specifically formatted for MGI’s DNBSEQ sequencers. This has helped the company to enhance its product portfolio and earn more revenue.
These strategies helped the company in coping with the pandemic and ensure business operations, minimize the impact of COVID-19, and providing full support to governments in their efforts to combat the disease and help the front line workers.
Conclusion
COVID-19 has impacted each and every market with no exception. The global epigenetics diagnosis market has been affected by the same. Rise in the prevalence of chronic diseases such as cancer, rising initiatives by players in the market, and rising evidence of influence of genes on medications among other factors, have brought people to go for epigenetics diagnosis and shown growth in the market. Overall the market is positively impacted by COVID pandemic. The trend has been suggested to show steady growth in upcoming years.
