World radioisotope market is projected at $5.5 billion by 2017
The global market for radioisotopes is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.8 percent by 2017 after hitting $3.8 billion in 2012, according to an industry report by MarketsandMarkets announced Dec. 14.
The leading market for diagnostic radioisotopes, with almost half of the market share, is North America, with the U.S. accounting for more than 80 percent of the diagnostic radiopharmaceutical market. The total North American market was estimated to be valued at $1.9 billion in 2012 and expected to reach $2.7 billion by 2017 at a compound annual growth rate of 7.2 percent. The European market was valued at $1.1 billion in 2012 and is expected to grow to $1.6 billion in 2017 at a compound annual growth rate of 6.8 percent.
The lion’s share of the nuclear medicine market was dominated by diagnostic SPECT and related radioisotopes Tc-99m, Ga-67, Tl- 201, and I-123. Diagnostic Tc-99m is expected to grow more than 15 percent in developed industries throughout North America, Europe and Asia by 2030. Next in line was the PET industry with F-18 and Rb-82. The major therapeutic radioisotopes in 2012 were I-131, Sm-153, Re-186, Y-90 and Lu-177. Alpha emitters are not yet commercially available but poised for further development. The forecasted introduction of Ra-223 (Alpharadin) and Ga-68 was noted as a potential driver of growth in the global market.
SPECT and PET are the two major players in scanning technology influencing the radiopharmaceutical market. Improvements in instrumentation, alpha radioimmunotherapy and centrally located cyclotron production are listed as factors in overall market growth. The downsides in the market were noted as the high cost of technology, manufacturing difficulties, regulatory requirements and the short half-life of radiopharmaceuticals.
The dominant radiopharmaceuticals companies listed were U.S.-based Cardinal Health with one-fifth of the market, Ireland’s Covidien, GE Healthcare in the United Kingdom, IBA Group in Belgium, Lantheus Medical Imaging in the U.S., Nordion in Canada and Siemens Healthcare and subsidiary PETNET in Germany.