Healthcare organizations plan to ramp up their spending on DNA sequencing, though generally not on the sequencers themselves, according to a survey by Macquarie Research, the research arm of the investment bank Macquarie Group.
Most of the new spending, the survey suggests, will go toward informatics and sample prep. Macquarie said new spending on instrumentation will need to come from upgrades and new customers.
Macquarie queried organizations in the second quarter of 2014 about their use of sequencing during the second quarter and their expectations for the future. The survey yielded 47 respondents, about 70% of them in government and academia and the rest from biotech companies, hospitals and other providers.
The firm expressed the responses regarding spending plans according to an index, with 50 meaning no change from the previous quarter and 100 indicating they planned to spend significantly more.
Informatics and sample prep each drew a 66 on the index, while instrumentation scored a 49 reading. High percentages of users were satisfied with their purchase of sequencing equipment. For example, 100% called their HiSeq 2000, an Illumina sequencer, an excellent or above-average purchase.
Only 21% of respondents said they were at least very likely to purchase more sequencing equipment in the next 12 months.
Follow Darius Tahir on Twitter: @dariustahir
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