Market Trends of Drug Screening Industry
Urine Sample Segment is Expected to Show Significant Growth Over the Forecast Period
Urine testing is one of the most common testing methods for drugs. Benefits associated with urine testing such as non-invasiveness and the ability to detect large numbers of drugs in the sample are expected to drive the segment growth over the forecast period. Urine testing can detect drugs used within 1 to 4 days, sometimes even longer.
Urine drug testing is an important part of monitoring patients with long-term opioid therapy, and it has been suggested for patients receiving long-term benzodiazepine or stimulant therapy too. Also, it is one of the crucial tests to check opioid dependency. Thus, the rising prevalence of opioid overdose is expected to drive market growth over the forecast period. For instance, according to the World Health Organization data published in 2021, opioids include compounds that are extracted from the poppy seed as well as synthetic and semi-synthetic compounds with similar properties that can interact with brain opioid receptors. According to the same source, about 275 million people (or 5.5% of the global population aged 15-64 years) used drugs at least once globally. Among them, approximately 62 million people used opioids.
Moreover, several launches by the key players are one of the factors propelling the growth of the segment. For instance, In September 2022, Sysmex Launches the UF-1500 Fully Automated Urine Particle Analyzer, a New Product for the Urine Sediment Testing Field.
Additionally, as per the National Insitute on Drug Research article in February 2021 Drug' testing by urinalysis has been suggested and in many cases implemented for prospective and current employees in the industry; for personnel of the armed forces, for parolees and bail seekers in civil and court systems, for workers in the transportation industry, and for individuals who are nationally known athletes. Thus, owing to the aforementioned factors, the studied segment is expected to witness healthy growth over the forecast period.
North America is Expected to Hold Significant Share in the Market Over The Forecast Period
North America is expected to hold significant share in the drug screening industry due to the serious problem related to high levels of alcohol intake. Also, the increasing consumption of illegal drugs, the availability of government funding to combat drug abuse, and the existence of strict rules in the country are encouraging drug screening. For instance, in April 2022, Quest Diagnostics performed drug testing and collected 11 million unidentifiable urine, hair, and oral fluid sample results between January and December 2021. According to Quest Diagnostics' annual drug index data published in March 2022, with 7.5 percent of employees testing were positive for marijuana between January and December 2021. According to the same report, based on over six million urine samples, marijuana had the highest positive rates in the United States workforce increasing by 8.3% in the same period. Hence, the rising consumption of drugs among people is expected to increase the demand for drug screening tests, in turn, benefitting the overall market growth.
Moreover, several company activities by the key players are one of the factors propelling the growth of the segment. For instance, in September 2021, LabCorp entered into a multi-year agreement with Infirmary health (united states) to offer laboratory testing services on the eastern gulf coast.
Furthermore, various initiatives are being implemented by the United States government to monitor the symptoms and to determine whether a person is under drug abuse. For instance, as per the NCBI article published in February 2021, the Patients and Communities Act of 2018 was a law implemented by the country to counter-acting drug abuse. Thus, the rising drug and alcohol abuse and strict regulations to detect intoxication in the body are expected to help the market growth in the region over the forecast period.
