6.11

Market Potential of Organ-on-a-Chip Technique

Companies that sell organs-on-chips for drug production, toxicity testing, and

individualized medicine research make up the ‘organ-on-a-chip’ industry. ‘Organs-

on-chips’ are a viable substitute to animal models, because they mimic the cellular

physiology of human organs. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 63.2% over the

next 5 years, from 2016 to $5 million by 2023.

Growth during the historical period was fuelled by the increased demand for

personalized medicine, a growing desire to minimise financial losses associated with

late-stage drug failure, and robust public and private funding for organ-on-chip start-

ups and research organizations. Previously, production was slowed by the high cost

of this technology and the limitations of PDMS, the most used substrate material for

organ-on-a-chip fabrication. The worldwide organ-on-a-chip industry is poised to

increase at a 39.9% compound annual growth rate between 2020 and 2026, from

USD 41 million in 2020 to USD 303.6 million in 2026, according to a report

published by Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021–2026

(Bajaj 2017).

Regaining dominance in the industry has been helped by major players such as

Emulate and others like Organovo. As well as expanding their market shares, the

report highlights the fierce competition in the industry. Some of the main participants

in the market are ‘AXO Technologies’, ‘CN Bio Innovations’, ‘Hurel Corporation’,

‘InSphero AG’, ‘MIMETAS B.V.’, ‘Nortis, Inc.’, ‘Tara Biosystems’, and ‘Ascen-

dance Biotechnology, Inc’.

Fig. 6.4 Organ-on-a-chip as in vitro model for development of personalized medicine

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Organ-on-a-Chip: Novel In Vitro Model for Drug Discovery

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