The global HLA typing market is poised to show considerable growth in forecast years but with its key application in transplantation, a significant supply-demand gap between the number of organ donors and organs required annually is likely to defy market growth to a certain extent. There is a continued disparity between the supply and demand for organs across countries with an established infrastructure to facilitate transplantation. This has led to development of different strategies to bridge this gap to ensure people do not die waiting for organ transplantation. One of the most topical discussions in global organ procurement is the relative merits of an opt-out system for organ donation (termed “presumed or deemed consent”) versus the opt-in system (termed “explicit consent”) to increase organ donor rates, with both pro and con positions keenly debated. The psychological rationale to support opt-out systems is that choosing organ donation consent as the default option bridges the gap between intention and action, facilitating more organ donor registrants as a consequence. Apart from bypassing the possible apathy or protracted procrastinations of people who have every good intention to donate, choosing opt-out as the default mechanism for organ donation also notifies individuals of the recommended course of action from policymakers. For example, experimental evidence suggests presuming organ donation is the default option for citizens may make them consider that to be the natural choice, whereas presuming the opposite makes the choice special rather than the norm. This issue has now become an important political matter for policymakers, with many countries that have explicit consent contemplating (or planning) conversion to presumed consent in efforts to boost organ donation rates.

On the basis of application, the global HLA typing market is segmented into diagnostics and research. The diagnostic segment held considerable market share of the HLA typing market in 2020.

The human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is also called the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system. They play a fundamental role in donor-recipient matching in transplantations and can be associated with mostly autoimmune diseases. The observation that some diseases are distinctly more common in individuals with a particular HLA allele or haplotype allowed studies on HLA and disease associations. Some diseases, like insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) or celiac disease, can be associated with more than one HLA allele. HLA antigen itself plays a role in the disease by, being a poor presenter of a certain viral or bacterial antigen, providing a binding site on the surface of the cell for a disease-provoking virus or bacterium, providing a transport piece for the virus which allows it to enter the cell, resembling the pathogenic molecule so that the immune system fails to recognize it as foreign and fails to mount an immune response against it. The HLA typing has diagnostic value in doubtful cases of ankylosing spondylitis. In other HLA-associated diseases, HLA typing may identify individuals at risk of developing the same disease within a family before the clinical onset of disease.

Asia Pacific is the largest and fastest growing market for HLA typing. The large number of patent expirations, decreasing R&D productivity and high costs of drug development are forcing big pharmaceutical companies to outsource their R&D operations to other locations. Asia is proving to be the most preferred destination to carry out their drug development activities. Availability of a vast patient population, low costs, R&D workforce and a favorable regulatory environment are the main driving forces to transform Asia into the hub of R&D activities. A number of Contract Research Organizations (CROs) have set up shop in Asia to provide trial monitoring, project management, data management, safety reporting, drug distribution and central laboratory services. Many top-notch western multinational companies have already moved their R&D operations to Asian countries including Glaxo Smith Kline, Pfizer and Novartis. All these factors collectively are expected to boost the Asian HLA typing market in foreseeable years.