The Europe E. coli testing market is expected to reach US$ 726.5 million by 2027 from US$ 442.7 million in 2019. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.5% during 2020-2027. The E. coli testing market is growing primarily due to the increasing E. coli testing, growing product innovation, and rising research activities in the Europe region that are boosting the market over the years. Factors such as E. coli testing challenges damages the growth of the market. Additionally, increasing adoption of multiplex PCR technology and developments in biotechnology sector are likely to fuel the growth of the E. coli testing market during the forecast period.

Escherichia coli (E. coli) are rod-shaped gram-negative bacteria that are generally available in the food, environment, and intestines of warm-blooded animals. The majority of the E. coli strains are typically harmless to humans. Still, some strains are recognized to be the reason for serious some medical complications such as gastrointestinal tract infections, cholecystitis, cholangitis, neonatal meningitis, bacteremia, pneumonia, urinary tract infection (UTI) and regularly spread via polluted food or water.

The rapid detection of pathogens in food is becoming increasingly critical for ensuring the safety of consumers, since the majority of food-borne illnesses and deaths are caused by pathogenic bacteria. Rapid, sensitive, inexpensive and convenient approaches to detect food-borne pathogenic bacteria is essential in controlling food safety. The application of genetic-based techniques is able to detect the pathogenic bacteria with greater sensitivity and reliability than conventional culture methods. PCR is a promising method; it has been applied with success in various protocols used for pathogen detection, particularly multiplex PCR assay. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), a contributing factor may be the shift from culture to culture-independent diagnostic methods, with PCR more commonly used to diagnose cases. For instance, Qiagen offers maricon for real time PCR screening for E. coli serotype and detection of E. coli serotype in food/animal feed. For instance, bioM?rieux introduced GENE-UP, it is a new PCR-based molecular diagnostic system for the detection of microorganisms (bacteria and viruses). This platform enables the microbiological control of food, raw materials and the production environment for customers in the agri-food sector.

Multiplex PCR (mPCR) allows multiple gene analysis of bacteria at the same time in a single reaction tube simultaneously, saving time and reagents. A rapid, sensitive and specific method that would allow detection of multiple pathogens simultaneously from different types of foods would be very valuable for the food industry and regulatory agencies. For instance, a mPCR system was developed for identification of entero- toxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) strains and to differentiate them from other gram-negative enteric bacteria. This increasing research activity and adoption of multiplex PCR in E. coli will boost the market growth in forecasted period.

The market for E. coli testing in Europe was well established before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the latest ECDC-EFSA annual report on E. coli, European countries have reported higher incidences of West Nile virus and STEC infections in 2018. However, since early 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 has resulted in the shifted focus of research centers and hospitals towards itself. In addition, various biotechnology companies in the European region have shifted their production for COVID-19 diagnostics. The shifted focus towards the COVID-19 diagnostic kits has hindered the E. coli testing market. It is expected that the growth is likely to have slower growth in coming next two-three years.

In 2019, the monoclonal antibodies segment accounted for the largest share of the E. coli testing market. Monoclonal antibodies offer advantages such as low cross-reactivity, high specificity, and excellent lot-to-lot stability, which are likely to contribute to the dominancy of the segment during the forecast period.

A few of the significant secondary sources associated with the Europe E. coli testing market report World Health Organization (WHO), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), and others.