Market Profile: TLC.

Thin layer chromatography (TLC) is used to separate small biological molecules. The sample is placed on a stationary phase which lies on a glass or plastic plate. An edge of the plate is then placed in a reservoir of organic solvent, moving different components of the sample up the plate at different rates due to differences in partitioning behavior between the liquid and stationary phases. TLC is fast, inexpensive and reliable, and is often used as a preliminary screening step for HPLC. It is also often used to monitor organic reactions to check purity or run drug screens.

Due to the competition from HPLC and LPLC, TLC has become, for the most part, a niche application. Because of its low cost, the best opportunities for growth in this market lie in developing countries, where growth rates are forecasted to exceed 5% annually. The aftermarket segment, including sprayers, glass and software, exhibits the fastest growth rate and the largest share of the TLC market. In 2000, the TLC market is expected to top $55 million. Clinical, academic and pharmaceutical laboratories are the primary TLC customers. Applications include R&D and quality control testing.

The leading vendors of TLC products are CAMAG Scientific, Sybron and ANSYS Diagnostics. However, while Sybron's role in the market is as a vendor of aftermarket products, CAMAG and ANSYS manufacture initial systems. CAMAG Scientific's Automatic TLC Sampler 4 is an automatic TLC/HPTLC instrument for qualitative and quantitative analysis and prep separations. ANSYS's Toxi Lab is used for drug testing. Other companies in the aftermarket include Whatman and Kodak.

Pie Chart: Total TLC Demand by Technique 1999

Initial Systems   30%
Aftermarket   66%
Service      4%