Mordor Intelligence recently issued a report regarding the nuclear medicine market that states that the North American nuclear medicine market was valued at $5.6 billion in 2020 and is projected to be worth $10.2 billion by 2026 registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.4%, over the forecast period 2021-2026.
“Several general principles have been implemented by government organizations with key goals to reduce disease transmission, preserve health care system functioning, protect health care workers, and ultimately reduce mortality and morbidity. A new set of regulations for the protection of the staff in the imaging centers and other nuclear facilities were rolled out. In 2020, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has developed guidelines to assist nuclear medicine departments to change operating procedures to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection among patients, staff and the public.
According to Jason J. Naidich’s article “Impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic on Imaging Case Volumes,” published in May 2020, total imaging volume in the first half of 2020, declined by 12.29% compared with 2019 in New York. Post-COVID-19 emergence revealed a greater decrease (28.10%) in imaging volumes across all patient service locations and modality types. This suggests the nuclear imaging with other imaging techniques had a decrease effecting the market size and trend.
The North American nuclear imaging market is expected to witness significant growth owing to the technological advancements, rising burden of diseases and adoption of nuclear medicine in therapeutics as well as diagnostics, according to Mordor Intelligence.
Government initiatives and funding for the development of new techniques are estimated to drive the nuclear medicine market. For instance, in July 2019, a new bill named Medicare Diagnostic Radiopharmaceutical Payment Equity Act of 2019 was passed by the U.S. government. The new bill aims to extend access to high-targeted, and more precise treatment and diagnosis of severe neurological diseases, by changing the way of Medicare payments for imaging services.
The growing funding for research and developments in Canada is also expected to boost market growth. For instance, in May 2020, ARTMS Products, a Vancouver based startup raised CAD 26.4 million Series A funding which helps in research and production of radiopharmaceuticals
“The technological advancements in the field of imaging have boosted the market growth. Over recent years, scientists, researchers and technologists have been able to bring hybrid systems in clinical practice, in which two or even more than two standalone diagnostic imaging modalities are combined. There are many technological advancements, like the introduction of time of flight (ToF) and the increasing popularity of hybrid imaging systems, which play an important role in the growth of the market studied,” Mordor Intelliegnce states.
However, high cost of the diagnostic and therapeutic equipment and procedures have been acting as restraints to the growth of the market studied, the report adds.
“The nuclear medicine market is projected to reach $7.5 billion by 2026 from $4.8 billion in 2021, at a CAGR of 9.0% during the forecast period,” MarketsandMarkets reports. “Growth in the nuclear medicine market can primarily be attributed to factors such as the increasing incidence and prevalence of cancer and cardiac ailments and initiatives to lessen the demand-supply gap of Mo-99. However, the short half-life of radiopharmaceuticals reduces their potential adoption, while hospital budget cuts and high equipment prices are expected to limit market growth to a certain extent.”
