In the in vitro diagnostic (IVD) market, chemiluminescence immunoassay technology has become an important means of clinical diagnosis due to its high sensitivity, high specificity, and wide dynamic range. As a key component of chemiluminescence immunoassay, luminescent reagents have attracted much attention in terms of their market share. Acridine ester and luminol, as two common luminescent reagents, occupy different shares in the IVD market, and their application is also influenced by various factors.

Luminol powder

1、 The proportion and application of luminol in the IVD market

Luminol is a relatively traditional luminescent reagent that once held a market share in the IVD market. The market size of luminol in 2024 is 1.553 billion yuan (RMB), and the domestic market size of luminol is 289 million yuan. It is expected that the market size of luminol at home and abroad will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.76% during the forecast period and reach 2.3 billion yuan by 2030. The luminescence principle of luminol is that it can be oxidized and emit light by many oxidants in alkaline solution. Based on the luminescent properties of this oxidation reaction, luminol has applications in fields such as immunodiagnosis. In some early chemiluminescence immunoassay kits, luminol labeled chemiluminescence systems were more common. However, the luminescence efficiency of luminol is relatively low, and its chemiluminescence efficiency is usually only one-fifth or even lower than that of acridine ester. This may result in the inability of luminol to accurately detect extremely low concentrations of target substances like acridine ester when detecting some trace substances, limiting its application in detection scenarios that require high sensitivity.

With the increasing demand for detection sensitivity and accuracy in the IVD market, as well as the emergence and development of new luminescent reagents, the proportion of luminol in the IVD market is gradually being squeezed. In mainstream chemiluminescence systems, the proportion of using luminol as the luminescent reagent is relatively low. Among the 163 domestic enterprises that use enzymatic chemiluminescence, only a few choose to use luminol related systems as luminescent substrates, accounting for a relatively small proportion. In the development process of the immunodiagnosis industry, although the chemiluminescence of luminol like markers has contributed to the early development of diagnostic technology, it currently faces significant challenges in market share competition.

2、 The proportion and advantages of acridine esters in the IVD market

Acridine esters occupy a more important position in the IVD market, especially in the field of direct chemiluminescence. Among the 98 domestic enterprises that adopt direct chemiluminescence, 92 of them use acridine ester (AE) as their luminescent system, accounting for a high proportion of 93.88%. This data fully demonstrates the dominant position of acridine esters in the direct chemiluminescence IVD market.

Acridine ester has many significant advantages, which is also an important reason for its high market share in the IVD market. From the perspective of luminescence mechanism, before the formation of electronic excited state intermediates, the non luminescent substituent portion attached to the acridine ring is detached from the acridine ring, that is, the non luminescent portion is separated from the luminescent portion, which makes its luminescence efficiency basically unaffected by the substituent structure. Acridine ester direct chemiluminescence has the characteristics of low background luminescence and high signal-to-noise ratio, which means that the detection results are clearer and more accurate, and can reduce the occurrence of false positive and false negative results.

Its luminescence reaction has fewer interfering factors and can emit light in dilute alkaline solutions with H ₂ O ₂, without the need for additional catalysts, greatly simplifying the detection system. Moreover, the light release is rapid and concentrated. After adding the luminescent starter reagent, the emission intensity reaches its peak in about 0.4 seconds, with a half-life of about 0.9 seconds. The luminescence basically ends within 2 seconds, which can achieve rapid detection and meet the needs of clinical rapid diagnosis. Acridine ester has high luminescence efficiency, high luminescence intensity, and high quantum yield, which can detect extremely small amounts of target substances and improve detection sensitivity.

In clinical diagnosis, these advantages of acridine ester have been fully demonstrated. In terms of pathogen antibody detection, acridine ester can detect hepatitis B surface antibody, hepatitis C antibody, etc. even though the antibody content in the blood is very small, which greatly improves the accuracy and timeliness of infectious disease diagnosis.

3、 Factors affecting the market share of both

With the continuous advancement of IVD technology, the performance requirements for luminescent reagents are becoming increasingly high. Sensitivity, detection speed, stability, etc. have become key indicators. Acridine esters have obvious advantages in these aspects and are more in line with the trend of technological development, thus gaining the upper hand in market competition. However, due to limitations in its luminescence efficiency and other properties, luminol is unable to keep up with the pace of technological development, and its market share is gradually declining.

However, although acridine esters have advantages in performance, their cost is relatively high. Its synthesis process is relatively complex, and the cost of raw materials is also high, which to some extent limits its market promotion scope. The synthesis process of luminol is relatively simple and cost-effective. In some cost sensitive markets and application scenarios, luminol may gain market share due to its cost advantage. In some grassroots institutions or development markets, due to limited funds, more attention is paid to the cost of testing reagents, and at this time, luminol may have application space.

In the IVD market, acridine esters dominate the direct chemiluminescence field due to their performance, with a relatively high market share. Although luminol faces challenges, it still has a share in some markets and application scenarios due to cost and other factors.

Product packaging

As a research and development manufacturer of luminol and acridine esters, Hubei Xindesheng Company has been deeply involved in the field of luminescent reagents for many years, ensuring stable product performance through optimized processes. The luminol produced by the company has high purity, good solubility, and is suitable for scenarios such as immunodiagnosis; Acridine ester has stable luminescence efficiency, high photon yield after labeling, and good stability. We can provide different specifications of luminol and various structures of acridine ester products to meet the research and production needs of IVD reagent kits. If you have any purchasing needs, please feel free to contact us at any time!