Chromatography is a process to separate mixtures of colored compounds into individual components. Resins are one of the important components of chromatographic techniques. It helps in isolation of desired component from mixtures of compounds. Resins have wide array of uses in gel filtration, ion-exchange, affinity, size exclusion, hydrophobic interaction and mixed-mode chromatographic techniques. Resins are usually incorporated into chromatography devices to cover a variety of industrial/research needs such as diagnostic test development, food & drug processing and purification, and separation of biomolecules. In chromatography based purification, choice of appropriate resin is an important step since resins are crucial for ensuring effective and accurate separation of individual components.

The chromatography resins market is significantly growing under the influence of emerging biopharmaceuticals, biotechnology and food and beverages industries. Increasing demand of resins for protein purification, monoclonal antibody production, drug assessment and food processing have triggered the growth of this market. Furthermore, huge investment in research and development by life science companies, extensive academic and industry collaborations and innovation in purification technology have also driven the global chromatography resins market. The increasing application of chromatography resins in drug discovery processes has increased its demand several folds in recent years. However, the presence of other advanced analytical techniques such as electrophoresis, protein crystallization, and charged ultra-filtration membranes may hamper the growth of the chromatography reagents market globally.

The global chromatography resins market has been segmented by application, technique and product type. The chromatography resins market by application is segmented into pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, food and beverages, academic research and cosmetics. Among these biotechnology, pharmaceutical and food and beverages segments account for lion share of the total chromatography resins market. Different steps of food processing, monoclonal antibody production and purification consume huge amount of chromatography resins. The chromatography resins market by techniques includes ion exchange, affinity, mixed mode, size exclusion, hydrophobic interaction, nuclear, and others. Of these, ion exchange resins constitute the largest segment market in terms of volume. However, in terms of revenue, affinity chromatography resins dominate the market primarily due to high price of affinity resins. On the basis of product type, the global chromatography resins market is categorized organic, inorganic and synthetic. Organic chromatography resins such as agarose, dextran and cellulose have gained more market acceptance as compared to inorganic and synthetic resins.

Based on geography, the affinity chromatography resins market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW). The North American region was recognized as the largest chromatography resins market across the globe in 2013. Ongoing robust research activities for the development of drugs and biologics and the presence of major pharmaceutical, biotechnology and food and beverages companies in the region are some of the driving factors in this region. Europe was the second-largest market for chromatography resins in 2013. Asia-Pacific is expected to be an fastest growing chromatography resins market during the forecast period from 2014 to 2020. This high growth is primarily due to improving economic condition in countries such as India, China and Malaysia and increasing number of contract manufacturing and contract research organizations in Asia-Pacific region.

Some of the key players in the chromatography resins include Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc., GE Healthcare Life Sciences, Sigma- Aldrich Corporation, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Life Technology Corporation, Purolite Corporation, Pall Corporation, Tosoh Corporation, Agilent Technologies, W.R. Grace & Co., Becton Dickinson & Co, Regis Technologies , Bio-Works Company Ltd, JSR Micro Inc., and Merck KGaA.