Focus
Market Research on Separation Technologies Separation technologies could well hold the key to the long-term success of the biotechnology industry, according to a report from International Resource Development Inc. (IRD), a market research firm based in Norwalk, Conn. The report points out that the isolation, cloning, and amplification of genes are all separations-intensive processes, and that an emphasis on macromolecules, fermentation, and process scale-up make biotechnology a natural market for separation techniques. IRD estimates that separation sales to the biotechnology market will approach $100 million annually by the end of the decade, and will primarily involve the techniques of ultrafiltration, microfiltration, and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A number of companies have been moving aggressively into applications of HPLC for separations of proteins, peptides, and other biomolecules, indicating that they are already aware of the huge potential of this
market. Varian, for example, has cosponsored a number of symposia on the subject. According to IRD, the present separations market is dominated by microfiltration (26% of gross sales) and reverse osmosis (18%) among membrane-based technologies, and by HPLC (25%) and ion exchange (13%) among non-membrane-based techniques. Membrane-based techniques today account for a greater percentage of gross sales, but HPLC has grown more rapidly in recent years. According to the report, "The year 1990 will see a new market leader, liquid chromatography. . . . By 1990, LC will control over one-third of the total separations market." Primary markets for separations technology right now are the pharmaceuticals industry and water purification, but their share will drop in the future. The major growth area will be biotechnology, which could reach 15% of industry sales by 1990. Major separation techniques in current use in the
Du Pont Quits LC Hardware Business The high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) market may be growing fast relative to membranebased separations techniques (see story above), but this growth has apparently not come fast enough for the Du Pont Company, which announced on April 6 that it will discontinue sales of LC instruments on Sept. 30. The company will continue to provide parts and service to owners of Du Pont liquid chromatographs. Du Pont's business manager for instrument systems, Carl Anderson, emphasized that the company is "exiting from instrument hardware but not from the LC business. We are redirecting our efforts to areas in which we feel we have fundamental strengths, such as columns and column packing materials." Another area Du Pont will emphasize is sedimentation field flow fractionation (SFFF). Earlier this year, the company announced availability of the first-ever commercial SFFF instrument (see Anal. Chem.
1984,56, 689-90 A). According to William Shippey of Waters Associates, a company that has been competitive with Du Pont in LC products, one of the problems in the LC business is that its growth rate has about halved in recent years, from a healthy rate of more than 20% in the late 1970s, to around 10% at present. "I think the key to success in the future is to open up new opportunities for LC, as opposed to trying to take each other's market share. We would like to see if we can get market growth back in the 20% range or better." The LC business, said Anderson, is "highly competitive, with many, many suppliers and but a few market leaders. Certainly Waters Associates is a leading manufacturer here, and is reputed to have the largest market share. Clearly, it is a crowded area with many players. One can only speculate, but it's possible that others may eventually leave the instrument side of the business."
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biotechnology industry are microfiltration, ultrafiltration, and HPLC. Looking ahead to 1995, IRD sees what it refers to as "today's developmental technologies" growing into full industries in their own right. These include supercritical fluid separations, preparative HPLC, isoelectric focusing, and affinity chromatography. The report, published in March 1984 and called "Emerging Membrane Separation Technologies" (Report #595), is available for $1650 from International Resource Development Inc., 30 High Street, Norwalk, Conn. 06851 (203-866-6914). Free descriptive literature and a detailed table of contents are also available on request.
New Company Helps Bring Technology to Market A new company, Rohrback Technology Corp. of Seattle, Wash., has been formed to help inventors get their technology to the market place. A number of prominent analytical chemists are advisers to Rohrback or are on its technical staff, and the company has a number of analytical chemistry projects in the works. According to Herbert P. Silverman, president of Rohrback, "We essentially work with inventors to help develop their concepts to the point where they can be presented to business people. The thing we want clearly understood is that we are not venture capitalists, nor are we technology brokers. We do not charge a fee for what we do. Instead, we get an exclusive license to the invention and return a percentage of the profits to the inventor. "There are inventors who have ideas and either don't have the time or the experience to put together a package for the venture capitalists," Silverman continued. "We're trying to bridge that gap. The problem with venture capital people is they normally fund personalities more than ideas, and we feel that a lot of good technical concepts have a hard time getting to the
