Digital Pathology Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Digital Pathology Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The digital pathology market is expected to register a CAGR of 11.97%, during the period (2022-2027).

In the context of the COVID-19, government organization in various countries, research institutes and many biotech and pharmaceutical firms are focusing on the effective and rapid technologies for the fast diagnosis of COVID-19 and to develop the vaccines/new therapeutics to overcome the current situation. The COVID-19 pandemic 2020, has challenged diagnostic services at a time when many histopathology departments already faced a diminishing workforce and increasing workload. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic 2020, had a profound impact on routine pathology services. Digital pathology played a key role in safeguarding clinical services and pathology-based research during the pandemic 2020. For instance, according to a research study by Lisa Browning et al., published in the Journal of Clinical Pathology 2021, in the United Kingdom, during the COVID-19 pandemic 2020, the uptake of diagnostic digital pathology (DP) has increased. Half of the respondents agreed that digital pathology (DP) had facilitated maintenance of diagnostic practices. As a result, the COVID-19 market had a significant influence and is anticipated to grow over the coming years.

The increasing number of teleconsultations, rising adoption of digital pathology to enhance lab efficiency, and increasing application in drug discovery and companion diagnostics are driving the digital pathology market. Moreover, the investment in laboratory expansion and market penetration of key manufacturers are likely to propel the market growth. According to the Center for Diseases Control and Prevention in 2021, when compared to the same period in previous year, the number of telehealth visits increased by 50% in 2020. Thus, increasing telehealth consultation expected to boost the market growth over the forecast period.

Teleconsultation services are being implemented by several hospitals, primary healthcare physicians, private medical practices, and other medical units. Thus, it has proven to be feasible and effective, to potentially reduce costs, provide organizational benefits, and improve patient’s satisfaction. For instance, in countries such as India during COVID-19 pandemic 2020, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in coordination with Niti Aayog, has issued telemedicine guidelines and providing regular online practice sessions for paramedics, nurses, and primary healthcare workers for procedures to be followed for diagnosis, isolation and communication of potential infections. However, increased use of technology and with telemedicine through transparent guidelines will improve access to healthcare even in remote locations in geographically diverse country like India.

The use of digital pathology in disease diagnosis is also increasing, due to the integration of digital pathology with digital tools, barcoding, specimen tracking, and digital dictation, which improves the safety, quality, and efficiency of disease diagnoses in pathology laboratories. The market is also expected to be driven by the increasing adoption of telepathology, rising investment in healthcare in developed countries, market penetration of key manufacturers in the developing region, and an increasing focus on drug discovery. For instance, April 2022, GlaxoSmithKline has recruited PathAI to bring digital pathology Artificial intelligence to cancer, Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) drug development. However, factors such as stringent regulatory concerns for primary diagnosis and lack of standard guidelines for digital pathology are expected to impede the market growth over the forecast period.

Key Market TrendsDisease Diagnosis Segment is Expected to Hold Significant Market Share Over the Forecast Period

Digital diagnosis plays a prominent role in the diagnosis of various chronic diseases as it helps in determining and understanding the cause of diseases. IntelliSite Pathology Solution by Philips was the first approved digital pathology system by Food and Drug Administration, for its use in diagnostic purpose. Digital pathology is on the verge of becoming a mainstream option for routine diagnostics. The current COVID-19 pandemic and the associated social distancing restrictions are boosting the digital pathology market. According to a research study by Stephan W. Jahn et al., published in Journal of Clinical Medicine November 2020, stated that digital pathology has shown exciting results for primary histopathological diagnoses.

Globally, there has been an increasing burden of chronic and infectious diseases such as cardiovascular, cancer, diabetes, influenza, orthopedic and neurology disorders, which is leading to disability and negatively impacting people’s physical and mental well-being. According to the GLOBOCAN 2020 report, an estimated 2,281,658 new cancer cases were diagnosed in the United States in 2020, with nearly 612,390 deaths. In 2020, The most common cancers were breast (253,465), lung (227,875), prostate (209,512), and colon (101,809) in the United States.Thus, chronic diseases are the leading causes of death and disability worldwide which is expected to drive the segment growth over the forecast period.

The integration of digital pathology with digital tools (barcoding, specimen tracking, and digital dictation) improvise the safety, quality, and efficiency of the disease diagnosis in pathology laboratories. Digital pathology platform has a provision of instant sharing of whole slides to multiple pathologists, for providing their inputs in a case at a time. In January 2021, Roche reported CE-IVD launch of its automated digital pathology algorithms, uPath HER2 (4B5) image analysis and uPath HER2 Dual ISH image analysis for breast cancer to help determine the best treatment strategy for each patient. The image analysis algorithms use artificial intelligence to support pathologists in making fast, accurate patient diagnoses in breast cancer. Hence, with the advantages of using digital pathology for the disease diagnosis, the segment is expected to grow at a steady rate in the forecast period.

North America Dominates the Market and Expected to do Same in the Forecast Period

Some of the factors that are driving the market growth in North America region is due to presence of high per capita healthcare expenditure, increasing investment from key players, and the well-established IT and healthcare infrastructure in the region.

In the United States, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requires pathologists to work within clinical laboratories, hospitals and other healthcare settings holding a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) license for making primary diagnoses remotely. However, due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has temporarily suspended those requirements since March 2020, enabling pathologists to review cases from remote locations.

Moreover, more recently, many hospitals are also adopting the new digital pathology technologies in Canada. For instance, in August 2020, Mackenzie Health Hospital, in partnership with Philips, became one of the first hospitals in Canada recently to implement a new digital pathology platform designed to help diagnose patients quicker and ultimately improve care. In June 2020, Koninklinje Philips NV announced its collaboration with Proscia Inc. to advance in the Open Diital Pathology ecosystem, that helps the laboratories to accelerate and scale digital pathology adoptiong.

Thus, owing to above mentioned factors it is expected to drive market growth in North America region during the forecast period.

Competitive Landscape

The Digital Pathology Market is consolidated competitive. The market players in the digital pathology market are adopting strategies, such as mergers and acquisitions, technological developments, and geographical expansions, in order to capture a significant position. Several manufacturers are focusing on developing digital pathology scanners with high throughput, improved resolution, high magnification and high-end microscopes. SOme of the market players include Nikon Corporation, Danaher Corporation (Leica Biosystems Nussloch GmbH), Hamamatsu Photonics KK, Mikroscan Technologies Inc., 3DHistech Ltd and others.

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