The Rapidly Evolving Market for CRISPR/Cas9 Tools

We recently conducted an in-depth survey of more than 500 scientists currently using, or planning to adopt, the remarkable technology CRISPR/Cas9.

Based on user-submitted budget data and our estimate of the incidence in which CRISPR/Cas 9 is currently used in labs, we estimate the market for CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing products is $200 million. And the respondents to our survey predict their budget for CRISPR-related products will grow by 37% in the next 12 months.

The survey results are the basis of our new report, The Market for CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing Products.

The speed at which this market is growing is unlike anything we’ve seen since the discovery of RNAi in the early 2000’s,” observed our own Robin Rothrock, PhD, Senior Science Advisor, here at BioInformatics LLC. “The effectiveness, simplicity and versatility of the technology are driving rapid adoption.”

As you probably already know, CRISPR/Cas9 – Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats – is a foundational technology that is generating great excitement in the life science community. CRISPR/Cas9 enables scientists to make specific changes in the DNA of humans, animals, and plants and can be applied to everything from agricultural biotechnology to developing treatments for disease.

The non-profit repository Addgene is currently the organization most scientists think of as their primary supplier of CRISPR/Cas9 products.  Here we see brand awareness among current users of CRISPR/Cas9:

Brand awareness and preferences of current CRISPR Users

Brand awareness and preferences of current CRISPR Users

 

But 74% of scientists currently using the technique have been using it for less than three years leaving little time to develop strong brand attachments. Indeed, among those scientists who say they will adopt the technique in the next 12 months, many say they plan to purchase from commercial suppliers, especially Agilent Technologies, Sigma-Aldrich and Thermo Fisher. Here we see brand awareness and preferences among future users:

Brand awareness and preferences of future CRISPR users

Brand awareness and preferences of future CRISPR users

Other companies mentioned in the report include Abcam, Allelebiotech, Clontech (Takara), DNA 2.0, Genecopia, Horizon Discovery, IDT (Integrated DNA Technologies), Lonza, New England Biolabs (NEB), Origene/Blue Heron, Santa Cruz, SBI System Biosciences, and Transposagen.

We predict there will be a steady movement away from homebrew methods toward the convenience and reliability of commercial solutions. Our survey of CRISPR/Cas9 users shows clearly that scientists are looking for higher throughput, faster time-to-results and more effective ways to validate results.