Abstract

Why Do Not All Microfluidics Entrepreneurs Drive Ferraris?

Holger Becker, Chief Scientific Officer, microfluidic ChipShop GmbH

Almost 30 years after the introduction of the concept of the “miniaturized total chemical analysis system (µTAS)”, it is worth to have a look how his technology has matured. In this respect, microfluidics has performed what is known in the field of technology economics as a “Gartner`s hype cycle”. Although no single “killer application” so far has conquered the markets, it is the long list of widely accepted advantages which nowadays makes Lab-on-a-Chip technology an essential tool in product development in almost any field of the life sciences. So why are not more lab-on-chip system visible in the labs these days? The presentation will focus on the recent technical and commercial trends in the transformation of lab-on-chip concepts into real-world products and tries to indicate some waypoints and stumbling blocks on the way to  entrepreneurial success.