Oligonucleotides (oligos) are a mature product category where suppliers often conclude that price-per-base is the only area in which they can establish differentiation. It is the latter stages of the product lifecycle, however, when suppliers can maximize profitability by executing strategies to build brand loyalty and avoid destructive price competition. Researchers may obtain oligos in several ways-from outside sources like commercial suppliers or core facilities, or they can synthesize the oligos themselves. A typical commercial supplier synthesizes thousands of oligos per day and allows researchers to specify the sequence of their oligos, the amount to be synthesized, the level of purification and any modifications, etc. To compete with these suppliers, many universities and research institutes have set up core facilities to offer custom oligo synthesis. Advances in technology and simplified instrument procedures, however, have resulted in more competitive prices from commercial suppliers. Another option for researchers has been to purchase synthesis equipment and make the oligos in-house, but this too often ends up being more costly. As a result, more and more scientists source their oligos from commercial suppliers-making it is increasingly critical for suppliers to differentiate their offerings. Thus, The U.S. Market for Synthetic Oligonucleotides: Establishing Differentiation for Success is based on a 27-question survey of over 750 researchers in the United States who purchase custom synthetic oligos from commercial suppliers. This report provides an individual as well as comprehensive look at the DNA and RNA oligo markets, and highlights the current and future research trends driving demand, throughput levels, preferred formats, specialty services required and prices paid. Price is just one of the features researchers consider when choosing a source for oligonculeotides. This report closely examines ten different product attributes (such as variety of formats/modifications offered, purification options available and guaranteed minimum yields) with which researchers are most, and least, satisfied and determines the overall value of each based on the prices being paid. When the price is equal, the decision to purchase one brand of oligos over another is made between only a few attributes. By identifying those attributes deemed most valued by current and potential customers, suppliers can focus their promotional efforts to show how their products may be superior to those of their competitors-enabling them to differentiate their products favorably in the minds of decision-makers. This report also looks at 12 different supplier attributes (such as accuracy of shipment, electronic ordering capabilities via supplier Web sites and oligo design expertise) with regards to importance, performance and expectations. Through a pictorial representation, this in-depth analysis will help life science executives understand the relationship between what is important and the perceived difference between performance and expectations. For example, a customer might note that "timeliness of delivery" is very important in his/her decision to purchase one oligo over another; however, when asked what else is important in that decision, the customer may also list ten other attributes that are equally important. Thus, how does timeliness of delivery actually "rank" in relation to the entire set of decision criteria? This comparison reveals those supplier attributes that are of greatest importance to researchers using oligos from commercial suppliers and details areas where suppliers (based on performance) fall above or below expectations regarding those attributes. Taking a closer look at how these product and supplier attributes factor into the researchers decision-making process will help companies better understand what drives purchasing decisions-enabling them to better understand how to effectively market and promote their products. Report Highlights The U.S. Market for Synthetic Oligonucleotides: Establishing Differentiation for Success contains over 70 charts and/or tables and more than 10 cross-tabulations for the 27 survey questions. Below is a glimpse of the key findings derived from just a few of the survey questions: • "Gene and/or protein regulation" (46%), "cellular development and/or function characterizations" (31%) and "molecular structure and/or function characterizations" (30%) are the research objectives for which scientists most often use DNA oligos. (Question 3)
• 59% of researchers who use RNA oligos use them for inhibitory RNA techniques (i.e., siRNA or RNAi) and 86% of researchers who use DNA oligos use them for standard PCR. (Question 4)
• Over one-quarter of researchers expect their purchases of DNA and RNA oligos to increase in the next year. (Questions 8)
• Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT), Invitrogen and Sigma-Genosys were most frequently cited as primary suppliers of DNA oligos. (Question 17)
• The companies most frequently cited as primary suppliers of RNA oligos were Dharmacon, Qiagen Operon and Ambion. (Question 17)
• More than half of the respondents have had the same primary supplier of DNA oligos for more than 24 months. (Question 23)
• 70% of the respondents have extremely high expectations regarding the accuracy of their DNA oligo shipments. (Question 21) (electronic copy also includes 1 print copy) | 
