An expanding population of bacterial strains that are drug resistant, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus MRSA, will be the most important justification for nucleic acid-based tests NAT. According to “Infectious Disease Diagnostic Markets,” a new report from leading life science market research company Kalorama Information, the most substantial growth in the $8.4 billion market for infectious disease diagnostics is in molecular testing.The needs of infectious disease testing are such that the two traditional methods, culture-based assays and immunoassays, are becoming increasingly inadequate. One key reason for this is the increase in drug-resistant infections. Immunoassays have no analytical potential here and culture-based assays for bacterial susceptibility/sensitivity, though low cost, are slow and often difficult.”Relevancy is established through significantly improved efficacy and not marginal improvement,” says Bruce Carlson, publisher of Kalorama Information. “NAT testing can be put to many uses, but what will get it into more labs is its role in determining the genetic differences that make a bacterial strain such as MRSA or MDR-TB/XDR-TB drug resistant, with results in 2-4 hours.”
via In Drug Resistant Strains, a Raison d’Etre for NAT Testing.
