This report originally appeared in the February 2009 issue of DOTmed Business News

The economy, regulatory climate, and other megatrends impact the multitude of lab companies.

Nearly anywhere that scientific inquiry or discovery takes place you will find laboratory equipment. Although thoughts of a lab may conjure visions of beakers brimming with unknown liquids, the reality is that engineering is as important to lab activity as chemistry. An arsenal of advanced laboratory equipment technologies is being pressed into service in the fields of drug development, clinical practice for blood tests, in pathology, veterinary medicine, crime and government labs, environmental and diverse industrial applications. The equipment sees steady use in hospital settings, blood banks, imaging centers, by private practitioners, in university research, pharmaceutical R&D, even non-medical settings such as petrochemical and other sectors.



It's not just the settings and tests that are diverse though; the equipment offers a level of diversity all its own. Device categories include hematology, coagulation testing, chemistry or urinalysis analyzers, tissue processors, centrifuges, balances, chromatographs, microscopes, autoclave/sterilizers, dose calibrators, wipe test counters, waste containers, survey meters, laboratory casework, assay bioreaders, spectrophotometers, DNA sequencers, HPLC, incubators, blood gas or electrolyte devices, and many other instruments. Hoods and safety cabinets are specially designed for lab work and specimen handling, along with furniture and storage units. (Visit DOTmed.com for a comprehensive categorization of available lab equipment.)

The manufacturers also have a deep bench - name brand companies are numerous. Leica, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Sakura, Roche, Olympus, Hitachi, Abbott Cell-Dyne, LabCorp, Statim, Molecular Devices, Agilent, J&J, Dade/Behring, Siemens, YSI, Cytyc, Mopec, Mindray, Beckman Coulter, GE Life Sciences, Baker Company, and Simplex are just a few that come to mind immediately.

With so many pieces and players, the market for this equipment presents a useful snapshot of trends in science. Many indicators are weak at the moment. The economy is clearly tight for private sector investments and funding for research is drying up.

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