ROCKVILLE, Md., March 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Roche, Alere, Abbott, Siemens are among the largest companies in point of care (POC) diagnostics in terms of revenues, according to Kalorama Information. Point-of-care systems are designed to deliver test results in a location and timing to be useful during a patient visit. They consist of devices such as glucose meters, operated by a patient, or small analyzers operated in a physician office lab. Together these companies make up three-fourths of the entire market for point of care diagnostics. The market research firm with a specialty in IVD made the assessment in its latest report The World Market for Point of Care Diagnostics.

According to the report, the top seven companies in POC testing are:

Roche

Alere
Abbott
Danaher (Beckman and Radiometer Divisions)
LifeScan
Ascensia Diabetes Care
Siemens Healthineers

The firm said 2016 revenues were used to make the assessment. Market share within POC categories can be found in Kalorama Information's report. The firm said that Roche dominated POC diagnostics as it leads in several IVD categories. Coagulation and glucose testing are key areas. In June 2015, Roche introduced the cobas c 513 blood glucose analyzer. It is a dedicated, high-throughput HbA1c analyzer suitable for diagnosis, monitoring and risk identification of diabetes patients.

Waltham, MA-based Alere secured the second market position Alere participates in nearly all POC test segments but has a dominating position in rapid cardiac markers, blood glucose including HbA1c, coagulation, drugs of abuse, infectious disease, lipid and pregnancy and fertility testing. The company has had challenges recently. The company said it was examining "inappropriate conduct" at the South Korean unit, Standard Diagnostics and federal investigations into Alere's government billing practices and foreign sales plagued the company last year. Yet in the point of care market, it is a dominant brand.

Abbott Laboratories, who had made a bid to acquire Alere last year, (now tied up in court and not likely to result in a merged company) held the third position. Abbott offers a good selection of POC tests. Abbott's strongest area of sales is in the blood glucose monitoring market. The introduction of the i-STAT Total β-hCG, a handheld blood test for pregnancy has helped POC sales for Abbott.

Danaher is fourth. Its Beckman Coulter unit participates in several POC testing segments and is a leader in POC blood and electrolytes testing, colon cancer screening, infectious disease and cancer testing markets. And Danaher's Radiometer participates in the blood and electrolytes and cardiac marker testing.

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