BioMérieux Reports 8 Percent Revenue Growth in Q4

Original from: Genomeweb

On March 2，BioMérieux reported that its fourth quarter revenues rose 8 percent year over year.

For the three months ended Dec. 31, the Marcy l’Etoile, France-based firm reported revenues of €924.5 million ($1.03 billion), up approximately 8 percent on a reported basis, or 7 percent at constant exchange rates and scope of consolidation, from €852.6 million in the prior-year period.

Clinical applications revenues rose 10 percent on a reported basis to €797.1 million from €726.3 million in Q4 2020.

Within the clinical applications segment, molecular biology revenues increased 18 percent to €391.5 million from €332.0 million in the prior-year period. The BioFire FilmArray product line grew 29 percent in the quarter driven by demand for the Respiratory 2.1 Panel as well as by a high double-digit increase in non-respiratory panels, the firm said. BioMérieux deployed more than 600 FilmArray units in the quarter, bringing the installed base to approximately 22,000 units. 

Also within clinical applications, immunoassays contributed €96.6 million in revenues, down 21 percent from €121.9 million in Q4 2020, which the firm attributed to a field corrective action on VIDAS linked to a raw material quality issue as well as a downward trend of procalcitonin assay sales in the US. Microbiology sales increased 17 percent to €296.1 million from €254.1 million in Q4 2020, driven by sales in automated ID/AST as well as blood culture reagents.

Industrial applications revenues in Q4 grew nearly 1 percent to €127.4 million from €126.4 million in Q4 2020 driven by reagent sales in the food and healthcare segments.

In the quarter, BioMérieux announced it obtained the CE mark for the Nephroclear CCL14 test for persistent severe acute kidney injury in collaboration with Baxter. The firms intend to commercially launch the test on the Vidas platform in Western Europe in 2022.

For full-year 2021, BioMérieux reported that total revenues rose to €3.38 billion from €3.12 billion in 2021, up 8 percent on a reported basis or 11 percent on an organic basis.

"In 2021, BioMérieux delivered a remarkable performance within a volatile environment marked again by evolution of the pandemic," Alexandre Mérieux, the firm's chairman and CEO, said in a statement. 

Specifically, the firm's non-COVID business showed a solid performance and the firm strengthened its leadership in syndromic testing, Mérieux said. "In the continuing uncertainty of the global environment, BioMérieux is well positioned to address public health challenges associated with antimicrobial resistance and also with COVID-19 eventually becoming endemic," he added.

Revenues from clinical applications were €2.88 billion for the year, up 8 percent from €2.66 billion in 2020.

Microbiology revenues increased 12 percent to €1.06 billion from €950.7 million in 2020, while immunoassay revenues rose 7 percent to €457.6 million from €428.3 million in 2020.

Molecular biology revenues, meanwhile, climbed 5 percent to €1.27 billion from €1.21 billion in 2020. Revenues from industrial applications were €492.5 million, up 8 percent from €454.6 million in the prior year.

For full-year 2021 the company reported a 4 percent increase in SG&A expenses to €818.3 million from €789.3 million. The firm's R&D spending also decreased 2 percent to €389.0 million from €398.8 million, reflecting the development efforts for COVID-19 tests in 2020.

Operating highlights in 2021 included obtaining the CE mark for Nephrocheck, a tuberculosis interferon-gamma release assay (TB IGRA), and three dengue assays on the Vidas system; de novoauthorization from the US Food and Drug Administration for the BioFire Respiratory Panel 2.1 with SARS-CoV-2; CE marking and launch of a new MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry identification system called Vitek MS Prime; CE marking and launch of a next generation SARS-CoV-2 IgG serology test on the Vidas system; launch of a genomic software solution for microbiology labs called EPISEQSARS-CoV-2; a co-distribution agreement in Europe for the Specific Reveal Rapid AST system; and the acquisition of Banyan Biomarkers, a firm BioMérieux had been collaborating with that is developing blood tests to diagnose traumatic brain injury. 

While BioMérieux expects continued solid growth in the microbiology and industry segments, as well as strong growth in BioFire non-respiratory panels supported by the increased installed base over the past two years, it anticipates this will be offset by decreased demand for BioFire respiratory panels and some COVID-related immunoassays as the COVID-19 pandemic becomes endemic at some point in 2022. 

Consequently, for 2022 BioMérieux is anticipating an overall sales decline of between 3 percent and 7 percent, with total sales of between €3.2 billion to €3.3 billion for the year.

Source: BioMérieux Reports 8 Percent Revenue Growth in Q4