September 1, 2006 (Vol. 26, No. 15)
The Market for Pre-Made Antibodies
With over 325 commercial suppliers of antibodies, selecting the right antibody brings to mind the famous lock-and-key analogy of antibody-antigen binding—how do scientists find the perfect match? BioInformatics surveyed 1,000 life scientists about the types of antibodies they use and their opinions regarding suppliers. Building on the 2004 market research report, “The Market for Antibodies: Keys to Success for Commercial Suppliers,” this 2006 edition provides a trend comparison with the 2004 report on five key metrics:
• Application of antibody-based techniques and origin of antibodies (e.g., pre-made, custom, in-house)
• Market growth potential for antibody suppliers
• Leading antibody suppliers
• Satisfaction with antibody product features
• Customer loyalty to antibody suppliers.
Additionally, four new analyses are included in this report: market share by usage rates for preferred suppliers; market factor(s) that influence a customer’s decision to purchase one brand of pre-made catalog antibodies over another; customer value scores by preferred supplier; and brand health of the preferred suppliers based upon key performance metrics related to product promotion, product attractiveness, product price, product placement, and supplier customer service and technical support.
This report will help antibody suppliers better understand how their products are used and what types of antibody products their customers need. Suppliers will be able to determine which factors or channels to concentrate on when trying to promote their antibodies. The difficult task of determining which supplier offers the best products, price, availability, and service is often left to scientists. Suppliers hoping to differentiate their products must interact with researchers, determine what products they need, and then provide them with enough information about those products.
Multiple forces have caused the market for pre-made catalog antibodies to expand over the last decade or so, including the Internet, advances in antibody technology, and new sequences from the Human Genome Project. Due to a more complex and immediate environment, suppliers need to switch their strategy from that of persuading a potential customer to buy to one of targeting the most appropriate market.
The majority of respondents make their selections of pre-made antibody suppliers based upon their reputation and the extensiveness of their product offerings. However, the actual selection process on a supplier-specific basis is much more nuanced. In fact, respondents prefer specific suppliers for different reasons. Suppliers who capitalize upon these differences can enhance their appeal.
By utilizing the metrics presented in this report, suppliers can better understand how best to reach their most valuable customers and how to optimize this supplier-customer interface. By combining different metrics into a customized prism, suppliers can track their performance over time and determine how improvements in customer profitablity, loyalty, brand experience, or other indicators can ultimately result in increased market share. Integrating these metrics into one’s marketing portfolio requires adopting a real market-based, customer-focused viewpoint. Though a challenging marketing task, it can ultimately help secure a supplier’s customer base by building a more differentiated position that one’s competitors will find hard to duplicate.
Tamara Zemlo, Ph.D., is the director of syndicated research www.gene2drug.com. E-mail: [email protected]. For information on obtaining the full report, please contact Amanda Donathen. Phone: (703) 778-3080. E-mail: [email protected].
