The Impact of Total Laboratory Automation on the Global Health Diagnostics Market
Anusha Vajrala
January 23, 2026
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the global diagnostics industry raced to meet the demands of the unprecedented burden of testing placed on clinical laboratories and hospitals worldwide. Emerging diseases continue to challenge systems of disease diagnostics, often revealing limitations such as uneven resource distribution, lack of scalability, and supply chain bottlenecks. The necessity to address such issues within the laboratory diagnostic landscape, and meet the continually increasing diagnostic demand for medical conditions, has driven the adoption of total laboratory automation (TLA).¹
TLA covers a breadth of analytical stages, typically utilizing robotics and automated technologies to simplify repetitive tasks requiring manual labor, including sample processing, liquid handling, and aliquoting. Furthermore, standardizing procedures through automation often reduces human error and inconsistencies, directly increasing productivity and result reliability.¹⁻³ Thus, TLA in clinical laboratories can improve workflow streamlining, support rapid testing of large sample cohorts, and increase revenue growth. These benefits offer unique opportunities for biotechnology investors by increasing market demand for automated solutions, driving profitability for labs, and enabling new research in underexplored diagnostic fields.
Current Market Trends and Impacts
The health diagnostics market, which is currently valued at $200 billion USD, is dominated by global biotechnology giants including Roche Diagnostics, Abbott, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Siemens Healthineers, and Beckman Coulter.⁴ As of 2025, the laboratory automation market was valued at $9.2 billion USD, where the diagnostic sector comprises 25-30% of this total market.⁵ Notably, the laboratory automation market is rapidly growing at a CAGR of 9.43% and is projected to reach $20.7 billion USD by 2034, reflecting a large demand for fast and accurate laboratory and point-of-care diagnostics.⁶ The laboratory automation market continues to boost the health diagnostic market through these key investment returns:
Reducing costs, which improves profit margins for biotechnology companies.⁷
Enhancing operational efficiency to improve platform scalability and address chronic shortages of skilled laboratory specialists.⁸
Improving reproducibility and reliability of pre-analytical, analytical, and post-analytical steps.⁹
Given these market drivers, diagnostic companies have placed laboratory automation in the forefront of investment decisions:
In 2025, the BD Biosciences & Diagnostic Solutions unit merged with the Waters Corporation in a $17.5 billion Reverse Morris Trust (RMT) transaction, where BD’s diagnostic presence alongside Waters’ automation in multiplexed diagnostics is expected to position the company in multiple adjacent high-growth markets. This strategic shift may drive the development of novel biologics and diagnostic modalities, provide an increased selection of diagnostic technology, and improve service support across the diagnostic space.¹⁰
In 2024, Quest diagnostics acquired PathAI Diagnostics, a digital pathology firm focused on AI-driven cancer diagnosis. This acquisition expanded automation across Quest’s pathology operations, enabling faster, more accurate cancer detection.¹¹
Along with its transformation on the diagnostic market itself, TLA integration in the diagnostics field can also directly improve patient outcomes. For example, automation can reduce turnaround times, improve diagnostic accuracy, and support emergency care.¹ Such implications may drive purchasing decisions towards integrated TLA platforms across the healthcare ecosystem.
The Future
Using TLA, diagnostic laboratories and biotechnology companies are continually transforming their high-throughput capabilities that can benefit stakeholders, including both investors and patients. Interoperability and the integration of automation into privately-owned and publicly-accessible systems will serve as competitive advantages for diagnostic companies. In the coming years, laboratory automation will fundamentally redefine diagnostic scalability, delivery, and development.
Sources:
Nam, Y. & Park, H.-D. (2025). Revolutionizing Laboratory Practices: Pioneering Trends in Total Laboratory Automation. Ann Lab Med, 45 (5), 472–483.
Roche Diagnostics (2025). Reducing human error in the coagulation lab: The role of automation in ensuring accurate diagnostic results.
Beckman Coulter (2021). Minimizing Laboratory Errors with Automation.
Biospace (2024). Diagnostic Testing Market Size to Reach USD 449.78 Billion by 2033.
Mordor Intelligence (2026). Total Lab Automation Market Size, Research Report | Industry Trends 2031.
Fortune Business Insights (2025). Laboratory Automation Market Size, Share & Trends, 2034.
Forbes (2024). The Impact Of Automation On Diagnostic Efficiency And Cost Reduction.
Al Naam, Y. A., Elsafi, S., Al Jahdali, M. H., Al Shaman, R. S., Al-Qurouni, B. H., & Al Zahrani, E. M. (2022). The Impact of Total Automaton on the Clinical Laboratory Workforce: A Case Study. J Healthc Leadersh, 14, 55–62.
Roche Diagnostics (2025). The return on investment of lab automation.
Clinical Lab Products (2025). Waters and BD’s Biosciences & Diagnostic Solutions to Combine.
Quest Diagnostics (2024). Quest Diagnostics Completes Acquisition of Select PathAI Diagnostics’ Lab Assets from PathAI, Accelerating Adoption of AI and Digital Pathology to Speed Cancer Diagnosis.
