They can be used to study mechanisms of action such as receptor binding, receptor activation, cell signaling, ligand internalization, and subcellular localization. 

The cell-based assays market is segmented into reagents and assay kits, instrument, software, services.

The global cell-based assays market is expected to grow approximately $15 billion by 2018 at a CAGR of 11 percent.

North America reported largest market share, followed by Europe, and Asia is expected to be the fastest growing region for increasing investments in life science research, advancements in technology and drug discovery outsourcing.

These cell-based assays are routinely used in drug discovery process, ADME and basic research to establish the potency and stability of a drug substance or product and are important in establishing safety and efficacy profiles for biopharmaceuticals.

Increase in investments by pharmaceutical companies in drug discovery, replacement of in vivo toxicity testing by in vitro testing methods, adoption of cell assay based on high throughput assay (HTS) screening, low cost label-free technology, accurate results, preference over animal model and emergence of new technologies such as microfluidics are some of the major drivers," said Research and Markets, a market research firm.

Whereas, intellectual property rights deprived innovation which hampered market growth.

Emerging areas such as advancement in stem cell culture, induced pluripotent stem cells, 3D cell based assay, single-cell assay, need of toxicity screening are opportunistic factors, while complexity of HTS assay, assay standardization and validation are threats.

Major players in cell-based assay market include BD Bioscience(US), Danaher Corporation (US), DiscoverRx (US), EMD Millipore (Germany), GE Healthcare (UK), Life Technologies Corporation (US), Perkin Elmer (US), Promega Corporation (US), Beckman Coulter Inc. (US), Sigma Aldrich (US), Caliper Lifesciences Inc. (US), Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (US), and Xenometrix AG (Switzerland).