Analysis of the bioinformatics industry

Abstract

The rise of the commercial genomic industry and the broadening application of genomic techniques in biology and medicine together with the growing availability of DNA sequence information have created a new industry: The Bioinformatics Industry. This thesis analyzes technologies, applications market and competitors in this industry and explores potential changes to the business models that are being used today. The technology and market information indicates that this is an industry in a very early stage. On the other hand, the business models being used are very similar to the ones used traditionally in the hardware and software industry: licensing, ASP (Application Service Provider), joint developments and hardware/software solutions. The actual market size is relatively small, estimated in no more than $300M. Only by implementing strategies of horizontal or vertical integration, a company in this industry might be able to boost revenues in the long term.