According to a new report by Allied Market Research, the global synthetic biology market is forecast to reach $38.7 billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 44.2% during 2014-2020. Europe occupies the largest share in the global market and would hold on to its position throughout 2020. However, Asia Pacific is the fastest growing market with a CAGR of 46.4% from 2014-2020.

Synthetic biology is at a nascent stage and recently has entered the commercial market. Many technologies that utilize synthetic biology are yet to be commercialized and are waiting for approvals from the respective regional regulatory bodies. However, this market is expected to witness adoption in varied domains, with chemicals, pharmaceuticals, energy and agriculture as some major application markets.

Key factors fueling the growth of this market include assistance from government and private organizations, rising number of entities conducting research and the declining cost of DNA sequencing and synthesizing. Bio-safety and bio-security and ethical issues are key restraining factors of the market. The fact that synthetic biology can be misused has raised concerns all around the world. However, as far as the market dynamics are considered, the bottom line is that the overall impact of these factors would be highly positive.

The global synthetic biology market is segmented based on product, technology, application and geography. The product market is further segmented into enabling products, enabled products and core products. Enabling products are the fastest growing segment in the product market due to ongoing research that may bring innovative ideas for the application of synthetic biology in new fields. Thus, the need for enabling products, during R&D activities and in the development of enabled products, would rise.

DNA synthesis is the largest segment within the enabling products segment, whereas oligonucleotide synthesis is expected to be the fastest growing market at 57.8% CAGR from 2014 to 2020. Chassis organism would be the fastest growing core product during the forecast period, with synthetic DNA being the largest market share. Other core products included in the study are synthetic genes, synthetic sells and XNA. Synthetic biology-based pharmaceuticals and diagnostics products will generate largest amount of revenue within the enabled product segment, followed by agriculture and chemicals sub-segments.

The technology market is segmented into enabling technology and enabled technology. The enabling technologies segment is growing speedily, with a CAGR of 48.6% during the forecast period. The market by application includes R&D, chemicals, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and diagnostics, biofuels and others. Biofuels is the fastest growing segment during the forecast period. In terms of geography, Europe is the largest revenue-generating segment, whereas Asia Pacific would experience the highest growth rate during the forecast period.

Competitive analysis of the companies reveals that most are concentrating on agreements, followed by product launches. Synthetic biology is a novel technology and the value chain of a product manufacturing includes steps that require collaborative efforts by two or more companies. Most of the agreements were related to the development of products for chemical industries, followed by biofuels and synthetic genes industries. Product launches hold the second highest share in strategies adopted by key players, accounting for about 32% of the strategic moves by key companies.