The Global Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Market size is expected to reach $4.9 billion by 2028, rising at a market growth of 5.9% CAGR during the forecast period.
Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) is a technique used to determine which antimicrobials a particular organism or organism group is resistant to. Susceptibility arises when microorganisms like fungi and bacteria cannot survive with one or more antimicrobial drugs. It is a laboratory technique to determine which antimicrobial treatment is most effective against microorganisms. In addition, it is used to determine which antibiotic inhibits the growth of bacteria, fungi, and other pathogens that cause illness.

After microorganisms that cause illness, like fungi, bacteria, and viruses, have been isolated from a culture of the specimen, susceptibility testing is conducted on them. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) is performed to examine the potential effectiveness of different antibiotics on bacteria and/or whether bacteria have developed resistance to particular antibiotics, along with antifungal or antiviral species. The findings of this test may be employed to select the medication(s) most likely to efficiently treat a disease. They have access to antibiotics.

AST contributes to evaluating treatment services offered by hospitals, clinics, and governmental programs to control and prevent infectious diseases. The testing determines the sensitivity of a bacterial, fungal, or viral strain to a panel of antifungals, antibiotics, and antivirals. In addition, the test examines if the bacterium can grow in the presence of these antimicrobials by exposing it to them. This information is provided to physicians in the form of the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC), which measures the susceptibility or resistance of a bacteria to an antibiotic.

The demand for antimicrobial susceptibility testing has increased due to infectious disease outbreaks like Shigella, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Neisseria meningitides, and Salmonella serotype typhi, which has been attributed to a lack of water supply, sanitation, and hygiene. As a result, physicians have recognized the importance of antibiotic susceptibility tests (ASTs), which are now a necessary part of clinical microbiology laboratories and are expected to boost the market.

COVID-19 Impact Analysis
The spread of COVID-19 negatively influenced business operations, revenue, and supply and delivery systems. The market for antimicrobial susceptibility testing was negatively affected by the widespread implementation of curfews, travel restrictions, national lockdowns, and isolation measures, which delayed distributions and affected supply chains of essential equipment and consumables. Though antimicrobial susceptibility testing is speeding up, meanwhile, due to the pandemic’s gradual slowdown and its irrational use of antibiotics.

Market Growth Factors
Growing research activities to develop rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing
The rapid growth of multidrug-resistant microbial diseases has forced researchers to gain a thorough understanding of how microbial infections occur, as well as to create novel diagnostic tools and antimicrobials. To determine the best antibiotic to use against a microbe, the sensible use of large-range antimicrobial medicines necessitates a quick and sensitive diagnostic technique. It can take up to 1 to 3 days to complete an antimicrobial susceptibility test (AST) using the most current technology.

Increasing infectious disease caused by bacteria & fungus and growing microbial resistance
Government funding and interest are two other aspects that significantly impact the development of the goal product. For instance, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other non-profit funding organizations suggested an innovative antimicrobial innovation funding mechanism in which the government would fund grants and innovation-induced rewards which would benefit upstream innovation, interim trial findings, and final product outcomes. As a result, the market for antimicrobial susceptibility testing is anticipated to expand due to these factors.

Market Restraining Factors
Restrictions associated with antimicrobial susceptibility testing
Even though AST has become a vital aspect of clinical diagnostics and drug discovery & development, the market expansion could be hampered by some constraints. For instance, the three most frequent in-vitro tests for antimicrobial susceptibility, agar dilution, disk diffusion, and broth dilution, determine the MIC of an antimicrobial agent. In addition, there are lengthy lags between the update of a clinical breakpoint and its approval on commercial antimicrobial susceptibility testing (cAST) devices, which can endanger patient safety because laboratories may fail to detect medication resistance.

Product Outlook
Based on product, the antimicrobial susceptibility testing market is categorized into manual antimicrobial susceptibility testing product, automated laboratory instruments, culture & growth media, and consumables. The automated laboratory instrument segment held the highest covered a considerable revenue share in the antimicrobial susceptibility testing market in 2021. Rapidity, precision, and the capacity to offer both quantitative & qualitative susceptibility data make for most of the segment’s revenue. In addition, technological advancements and higher R&D expenditures by key competitors to provide innovative market techniques are fueling the segment’s expansion.

Type Outlook
On the basis of type, the antimicrobial susceptibility testing market is segmented into antibacterial, antifungal, antiparasitic, and others. The antibacterial segment accounted the highest revenue share in the antimicrobial susceptibility testing market in 2021. Antibacterial susceptibility testing is performed to determine the specific medications that impact bacteria. For difficult-to-treat infections, these tests can assist in determining the optimal medicine and dose.

Method Outlook
By method, the antimicrobial susceptibility testing market is fragmented into etest method, disk diffusion, automated susceptibility testing instrument, agar diffusion, and genotype method. In 2021, the disk diffusion segment covered a considerable revenue share in the antimicrobial susceptibility testing market. The advantages of the disc method include the ease of the test, which does not require any specialized equipment, the presentation of categorical data that all doctors can simply interpret, and the versatility in selecting test discs.

Application Outlook
Based on application, the antimicrobial susceptibility testing market is divided into clinical diagnostics, drug discovery & development, and epidemiology & others. In 2021, the clinical diagnostics segment held the highest revenue share in the antimicrobial susceptibility testing market. The significant market share of this segment is primarily explained by the growing burden of antibiotic resistance, the rising prevalence of HAIs, and the rising procedural volume of clinical diagnostic tests.

End-User Outlook
On the basis of end-user, the antimicrobial susceptibility testing market is classified into hospital & diagnostic centers, pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies, research & academic institutes, and clinical research organization. In 2021, the pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies segment projected a prominent revenue share in the antimicrobial susceptibility testing market. By subjecting a standardized concentration of an organism to different amounts of antimicrobial treatments, susceptibility testing can be used to determine a microbe’s susceptibility to certain medications. Rising R&D for drug development is the key factor supporting the segment’s growth.

Regional Outlook
Region wise, the antimicrobial susceptibility testing market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and LAMEA. The North America region led the antimicrobial susceptibility testing market by generating the highest revenue share in 2021. The high rates of HIVDR among patients who experience treatment failure highlight the necessity of stepping up viral load testing, improving adherence counseling, and swiftly switching patients who experience treatment failure. Also, effective government initiatives, increased research partnerships, well-established awareness campaigns for precision medicine, and the adoption of antimicrobial testing are some of the factors anticipated to boost market growth.

The market research report covers the analysis of key stake holders of the market. Key companies profiled in the report include BioM?rieux S.A., Becton, Dickinson and Company, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Danaher Corporation, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Merck KGaA, Bruker Corporation, Accelerate Diagnostics, Inc., HiMedia Laboratories Pvt. Ltd., and F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.

Strategies Deployed in Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Market
2022-Aug: Becton, Dickinson, and Company teamed up with Accelerate Diagnostics, Inc., a company engaged in innovation of rapid in-vitro diagnostics in microbiology. Following this Collaboration, BD would provide Accelerate’s rapid testing solution for antibiotic resistance and susceptibility portfolio results in hours, compared to more than a day with any of the traditional laboratory methods.
2022-Aug: Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. took over Curiosity Diagnostics, Sp. Z. o. o., a subsidiary of Scope Fluidics, SA, and developer of advanced technology solutions for the medical diagnostic and healthcare markets. Through this acquisition, Curiosity’s PCR platform, PCR|ONE provides a smooth workflow and quick turnaround times and would broaden its presence beyond high-complexity labs into near-patient molecular diagnostics labs.
2022-May: bioMrieux completed the acquisition of Specific Diagnostics, a developer of a rapid antimicrobial susceptibility test (AST) system that provides phenotypic AST directly from positive blood cultures. The acquisition strengthens bioM?rieux’s fight against Antimicrobial Resistance and develops its leadership in clinical microbiology and brings major advancement to the market.
2022-Mar: Accelerate Diagnostics, Inc. rolled out Accelerate Arc system, consisting of the Arc Module and BC Kit, an automated path to quick and precise microbial identification for positive blood cultures. The product is designed to eliminate the requirement for overnight culture incubation for current MALDI uses, also decreasing the possibility of potential false positive results and cross-reactivity which comes with rapid multi-targeted molecular tests.
2022-Mar: bioMrieux got an FDA approval for Vitek MS Prime system, a MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry identification device. With this system, bioM?rieux would offer its US customers an advanced system that brings better lab workflow efficiency.
2021-Oct: Thermo Fisher Scientific together with Q-linea announced the launch of ASTar System, a quick antimicrobial susceptibility testing system. The product offers true minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) results in around 6 hours. Additionally, ASTar System uses advanced imaging techniques and algorithms to monitor bacterial growth, removing the requirement for subculture which usually takes more than a day.
2021-Jan: Bruker Corporation released MBT Sepsityper? Kit US IVD, a kit for rapid microbial identification of over 425 microorganisms through positive blood cultures on the MALDI BiotyperCASystem. The MBT Sepsityper Kit US IVD allows the quick identification of multiple microorganisms from positive blood culture bottles.
2020-Sep: Accelerate Diagnostics, Inc. received FDA approval for Accelerate Pheno? system, the latest release consisting of improvements in susceptibility testing performance. This launch would aim to improve performance and broaden the system’s antimicrobial susceptibility testing menu for bloodstream infections. Additionally, the launch would offer clinicians a broader array of results to be aware of highly tailored treatment options for patients suffering from sepsis and bacteremia.
2020-Apr: Thermo Fisher Scientific added capabilities to its Sensititre AST System, an automated Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Platforms. With the addition of Cefiderocol and imipenem/sulbactam, the new treatment options for complex urinary tract infections, Thermo Fisher Scientific would support clinicians who aim to provide the new treatments as part of strong and multiple stewardship Programs.
2019-Aug: Thermo Fisher Scientific introduced Sensititre ARIS HiQ AST System, an automated reading and incubation system for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The system delivers microbiology laboratories with the precise MIC results that clinicians required to confidently choose an effective antibiotic for critically-ill patients during the time of safeguarding future patient care with more successful antimicrobial handling.
2018-Oct: Bruker Corporation acquired Hain Lifescience GmbH, an infectious disease specialist with a broad range of molecular diagnostics solutions for the identification of viral pathogens and microbial. This acquisition broadens Bruker’s Microbiology & Diagnostics business with a profitable Molecular Diagnostics suite and considerable innovation processes.

Scope of the Study
Market Segments covered in the Report:
By Application


  • • Clinical Diagnostics
    • Drug Discovery & Development
    • Epidemiology & Others


By Method


  • • Automated Susceptibility Testing Instruments
    • Disk Diffusion
    • Etest Method
    • Agar Diffusion
    • Genotyping Method


By Type


  • • Antibacterial
    • Antifungal
    • Antiparasitic
    • Others


By End User


  • • Hospitals & Diagnostic centers
    • Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Companies
    • Research & Academic Institutes
    • Clinical Research Organizations


By Product


  • • Automated Laboratory Instruments
    • Manual Laboratory Instruments
    • Culture & Growth Media
    • Consumables


By Geography


  • • North America
    •·US
    •·Canada
    •·Mexico
    •·Rest of North America
    • Europe
    •·Germany
    •·UK
    •·France
    •·Russia
    •·Spain
    •·Italy
    •·Rest of Europe
    • Asia Pacific
    •·China
    •·Japan
    •·India
    •·South Korea
    •·Singapore
    •·Malaysia
    •·Rest of Asia Pacific
    • LAMEA
    •·Brazil
    •·Argentina
    •·UAE
    •·Saudi Arabia
    •·South Africa
    •·Nigeria
    •·Rest of LAMEA


Companies Profiled


  • • BioM?rieux S.A.
    • Becton, Dickinson and Company
    • Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.
    • Danaher Corporation
    • Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.
    • Merck KGaA
    • Bruker Corporation
    • Accelerate Diagnostics, Inc.
    • HiMedia Laboratories Pvt. Ltd.
    • F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.


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