Why Are Label-Free Detection Technologies Used during Drug Discovery?
Two of the biggest causes of death worldwide are cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and cancer, which carry an annual mortality of 17.9 million and 9.6 million, respectively, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Other common chronic diseases are chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which affects more than 250 million, and diabetes, from which at least 422 million suffer each year. This high case count, which is rising every year, is propelling research and development (R&D) activities in the fields of diagnosis and treatment.
As per P&S Intelligence, the growing chronic disease incidence will drive the label-free detection technology market from $1,197.5 million in 2019 to $3,097.4 million by 2030, at a 9.0% CAGR between 2020 and 2030. During drug discovery, the tissue or cell on which the effect of an investigational drug is to be tested is attached to a label, or tag, which helps in detecting the activity of the drug on it. The label-free detection technology eliminates the requirement for labeling, instead, using the size, molecular weight, electrical impedance, charge, refractive index, and dielectric permittivity of the drug in the tissue.
Due to the numerous benefits this technology offers, much is being done to increase awareness about it. For instance, the 20th International Conference on Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems & Eurosensors XXXIII (TRANSDUCERS & EUROSENSORS XXXIII) was organized in June 2019, wherein novel label-free detection technologies were presented. In the same way, the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) hosted a conference in January 2020, where discussions on label-free bioanalytics, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-tailored cellular assays, patient-specific disease models, AI-impacted imaging, single-cell analysis, off-the-shelf chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies, and organs-on-chip were had.
For all such purposes, a range of technologies are used, such as surface plasmon resonance (SPR), mass spectrometry, microplates/reader-based technology, bio-layer interferometry (BLI), and calorimetry. Among these, mass spectrometry is used the most widely, on account of its preference among researchers to ascertain the structural characteristics of the bound proteins and derive information about molecules. In the coming years, the usage of SPR will rise rapidly, as it is cost-effective and reproducible, requires minimal sample volumes, and uses a continuous flow mechanism.
As label-free detection is majorly used by academic & research institutes, pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies, and contract research organizations (CROs), North America has been the largest label-free detection technology market till now. This is because the region is home to the largest pharmaceutical & biotechnology sector in the world, which leads to a high number of research studies. Moreover, the norms of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding drug discovery and testing are rather strict, which leads to a high volume of the experiments and tests where these technologies are used.
Hence, as the demand for novel drugs to combat chronic diseases and keep the mortality count low increases, so will the requirement for the instruments and consumables used for label-free detection.