The lab instrumentation industry is now set for revival after having gone through a period of slump due to economic meltdown. This is not only because of the general improvement in the life sciences sector in the second quarter of the fiscal 2009-10, but also due to revival of projects, capacity expansion and launch of new products.

The Q4 of 2008 and Q1 of 2009 have been worst for the sector. Decisions were postponed and even government spending came to a grinding halt. Industry was conservative as fear psychosis crippled investment sentiment. Also there was all-round cost cutting. This had a negative impact on the life sciences service sector dealing with lab instrumentation. Owing to this, a few companies cut production to cope with the demand slump, Sudhir Kant, president, Millipore India told Pharmabiz.

Although the recession left the pharma sector unscathed, the industry recorded around 14 per cent growth in FY 2009. The exception was the biotech sector, which faced bad times during the economic slowdown compared to its earlier steep rise. The sector managed a modest growth of 12 per cent as against industry expectation of 30 per cent.

But, between July and September 2009, companies have been looking into inventory management from safety to ‘just-in-time’ products. However, the industry is largely cautious. While Millipore has been able to register a 14 per cent growth, sources indicated there has been a 25 per cent impact on most other companies in this sector.

While sales are higher than last year, companies are still finding it difficult to achieve the targeted top line. In this scenario, companies are not willing to hire and this situation is expected to continue till tangible improvements in sales are visible.

But amid this cautious outlook, the government sector, which accounts for almost 25 per cent of the business in this segment, is increasingly looking at sourcing opportunities from accredited manufacturers of lab instruments and this should give a fillip to players like Millipore. Further, the advent of good manufacturing practices is an encouraging sign for the lab equipment industry. In an era of good manufacturing practices and aseptic processing, the bio- pharma industry is looking at single use products.

The focus is on lower risk of contamination, reduced cleaning, validation requirements and increased flexibility in multi-product facilities. This is where disposable technologies come into play, said the Millipore India chief.

Although disposable technologies are gaining acceptance in India, the issue now is cost versus risk. The need of the hour is risk mitigation, to put up with protein applications which are more difficult to handle than chemicals. Industry needs to tackle micro plasma and cell debris which are new risks in bio-processing.

Millipore has been able to come out unscathed in the major downturn, despite the uncertain global business opportunities and falling demand. Its key success could be attributed to its technology prowess and manpower talent. Among its future products are Pod, disposable filtration system and new chromatography media. Its products like Mobius Mixers, connectors for sterile fluid paths, sampling and storage bags ,FlexReady Solutions,CellReady Bioreactors, PureFlex film, NovaSeptum sampling and NovaSeal Crimping solutions will now help the bio-pharma sector to eliminate time, lower cost and risk of cross contamination, said Kant.

However, despite some encouraging signs, the instrumentation industry faces multiple challenges. These include short supply of trained manpower, high attrition rates and credit squeeze. It is important to overcome these impediments in order to deliver innovation in manufacturing, produce safe products and succeed in complex global supply chain logistics, he said.

Courtesy: www.pharmabiz.com