Hepatitis C Virus Testing Market: By Technique (Polymerase Chain Reaction Tests, Immunoassays, Others), By Test (Hepatitis C Antibody Test, Hepatitis C RNA Quantitative Test, Hepatitis C RNA Qualitative Test, Hepatitis C RIBA, Hepatitis C Genotype, Viral Load),  By End-user (Hospitals, Diagnostic Centres, Blood Donation Centres) and Geography   

Hepatitis C Virus Testing market size was valued at USD x billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of x% from 2023-2029. Hepatitis C is an infection caused by the Hepatitis C virus that disseminates through contaminated blood from an infected person. It can spread in a number of ways, including unprotected sex, tattooing, sharing contaminated needles, other injecting equipment, contaminated blood transfusions, and organ transplants. As per WHO, in 2022, 58 million people have chronic hepatitis C virus infection, with about 1.5 million new infections occurring per year. The Hepatitis C test is preliminary that helps in the detection of antibodies to the hepatitis C virus. The screening and testing of chronic hepatitis C infection also led to the evaluation and proper treatment against liver disease, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and associated morbidity and mortality. The compulsion of screening blood before blood donation, transfusion, and organ donation is expected to fuel the demand for the hepatitis-C virus testing market.

According to WHO 2023, about 118.54 million blood donations are collected worldwide increasing the market for hepatitis C tests. The advancement in immunoassays and Polymerase Chain reaction (PCR) techniques for the detection have raised the opportunities for market development. Based on the type of test, Hepatitis C antibody tests are currently dominating the market as they are cost-effective, tolerable, sensitive, and provide results quickly. The development of rapid Self-testing Hepatitis C virus (HCVST) is becoming tremendously popular and causing a surge in the market. For instance, Atomo Diagnostics announced the launch of a rapid diagnostic test for screening the Hepatitis C virus in 2019. However several clinical laboratories are still in the developing stages, with a major restrain in having skilled technicians to ensure efficient sample collection, storage, transportation, and handling of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and lab-on-a-chip PCR machines leading to a decline in the market. Moreover, the cost of a few diagnostic tests is very high and it hampers the growth of the market. However, the adoption of the “Global health sector strategy on viral Hepatitis” by the World Health Assembly with the proposed goal to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public threat by 2030 has led to more awareness among people and thus further increase the market. The increasing awareness among people, emerging key market players, initiatives taken by government bodies, expanding molecular diagnostics technology, and expansion in the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries are likely to present significant growth prospects in the forecasted years.

Hepatitis C Virus Testing Market Key Developments:

• In April 2023, Beckman Coulter acquired licensed rights to testing for hepatitis C virus (HCV) from Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics to develop, manufacture, and sell quantitative viral load HCV blood tests for use on the company's molecular diagnostic instrument.
• In September 2022, J Mitra launched the 4th Gen Elisa-based HCV test– the HCV Gen 4 Ag & Ab Microlisa. It is an in-vitro qualitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detecting HCV core antigens and antibodies against HCV (anti-HCVs) in human serum or plasma.