ADLM – trends, innovations and industry shifts

09 Aug 2024 3min read

As we reflect back on ADLM and our week in Chicago, several themes were apparent:

The ADLM expo is vast with a truly global presence
The large corporates in IVD and lab automation were all there with impressive stands, presenting their array of lab and PoC products
There was a strong presence of small and medium sized companies which was encouraging to see (as well as numerous suppliers).

The atmosphere was friendly and inquisitive and after the dip in the IVD sector in recent years, there was a greater sense of optimism in the exhibition hall. Many of the large organisations have just posted figures showing single digit growth! Growth – it’s great to see it after the boom and bust of COVID times.

Point of Care (PoC) – rising optimism in IVD

During ADLM, we focussed on highlighting the developments and needs of point of care, a growth area for the industry (and Team Consulting’s sweet spot). The work we did with LumiraDx is a great example. This focus along with the timely announcement of the Roche acquisition of LumiraDx technology attracted companies of all sizes to our stand. Indeed, based on some of these conversations, Roche’s acquisition has created significant interest from other top 10 IVD companies, perhaps reflecting on how their PoC systems will compete. It seems likely that the acquisition of other innovative product companies will follow in the diagnostics space.

Many seemed interested in point of care instruments, including companies developing large scale automated platforms as well as those who have to date been focussed on reagents or biochemistry, who are now expressing their interest in point of care instruments. It will be fascinating to see how this progresses.

Point of care does appear to be a critical focus for IVD companies. It supports the need for care of patients outside of traditional healthcare environments. It was clear from the conversations that the concept of point of care is shifting too. Whilst there are plenty of companies developing products that are small scale instruments that can be used in non-laboratory settings, including handheld devices, there are many developing products that will be used much closer to the patient.

Management of use error and connectivity were also of significant interest to address the range of different use settings. We had some great discussions about the use of behavioural design, behavioural nudges and digital health to truly enhance the way users seamlessly and subconsciously use products in the right way.

Is this a new era of point of care?

The question that will be easy to see at next year’s ADLM is: will point of care be more apparent in 2025? We are keen to see how this develops in the PoC space in the coming years and how this may support new use settings and training.