Market Overview

Considering the financial performances at leading laboratory testing centers and operating statuses at small and middle-size centers, the domestic clinical laboratory testing service market for FY2018 (based on sales revenues at service providers) was estimated to have increased by 1.6% from the previous fiscal year to reach 565 billion yen. The market expansion stemmed from the increasing demand to outsource the testing by medical institutions, though the unit price per request declined against the background of revision of the medical payment system.

Noteworthy Topics

Medical Checkup, Various Infectious Disease Testing, and Human Genetic Testing Associated with Progress of Personalized Medicine Are the Growth Factors

When observing the domestic clinical laboratory testing service market by test type, the market growth has been supported by stably increasing demand for testing the specimens requested by medical institutions as well as medical checkup facilities, various infectious disease testing, and human genetic testing that is associated with a progress of personalized medicine. In the status where preventive medicine has increased its value, the tendency to focus more on laboratory tests is on the rise, since these tests lead to early detection of potential diseases. As for infectious disease testing, the demand for antibody test has been newly generated prior to rubella vaccination. With regard to cancer treatment, the demand for human genetic testing has been increasing in order to respond to widely accepted personized medicine, which has become the core business for major clinical laboratory testing service providers. 

Future Outlook

The domestic clinical laboratory testing service market is likely to slightly grow for the next several years, as clinical testing for preventive medicine taken place. On the other hand, however, considering the influence of the recent domestic demographics and suppressed medical expenses, the market can saturate from the mid-to long-term point of view.


In addition, while the domestic clinical laboratory testing service market has been consolidated into upper ranking companies, there are some people concern about too many numbers of companies, overcapacity, and inefficiency in collecting samples, which may lead to another phase of reorganization in the future. Clinical laboratory testing service providers also face a problem in recruitment. The key for them to survive seems to be investment in information technologies and improvement in the corporate brands. For pathological diagnosis support, utilization of AI is likely to be in progress.

Research Outline