BioMérieux H1 Revenues Rise 5 Percent

Original from: Genomeweb

BioMérieux on Wednesday reported sales growth of approximately 5 percent for the first half of 2022 compared to the first half of 2021.

The Marcy l'Etoile, France-based diagnostics firm reported total sales of €1.66 billion ($1.66 billion) for the six-month period ended June 30, up from €1.57 billion for the first half of 2021. At constant exchange rates and scope of consolidation, the company reported flat year-over-year revenue growth.

For the first half of the year, BioMérieux's clinical applications sales increased 5 percent to €1.39 billion versus €1.33 billion for the first half of 2021. The firm's industrial applications segment sales grew 9 percent to €266.3 million from €244.3 million.

Within clinical applications, BioMérieux's molecular biology products brought in revenues of €623.3 million in the first half of the year, up 16 percent from €538.3 million in the first half of 2021. Microbiology product sales were €542.1 million versus €496.4 million in H1 2021, a 9 percent increase. Sales of immunoassays declined 18 percent to €198.5 million from €240.7 million in the first half of 2021. Sales for other product lines fell 49 percent to €27.8 million in H1 2022 from €54.4 million in H1 2021.

For the second quarter, BioMérieux's revenues grew 13 percent year over year, driven in part by strong growth of the BioFire range as well as a good performance in clinical microbiology and industry applications.

For the three months ended June 30, the company reported €820.9 million in sales compared to €729.6 million in the year-ago period. At constant exchange rates and scope of consolidation, the company reported year-over-year revenue growth of approximately 5 percent.

Sales in clinical applications rose 13 percent on a reported basis to €687.9 million from €608.1 million, while industrial applications rose 9 percent to €132.9 million from €121.5 million.

Within clinical applications, the microbiology segment grew 5 percent to €275.4 million from €249.0 million, driven mainly by reagents sales in the Vitek automated ID/AST range in each geographic area, while other ranges recorded a positive performance, the firm said.

Molecular biology segment sales jumped 42 percent to €304.3 million from €213.9 million, driven by strong demand for BioFire respiratory panels in the US in the context of high COVID-19 transmission and an increase in influenza cases year over year. Non-respiratory panels sales also saw solid performance in the second quarter, the firm said, led by gastrointestinal and blood culture identification panels. 

The BioFire installed base expanded to more than 22,800 units as of June 30, 2022, compared to 22,500 at March 31, 2022.

Immunoassay business segment sales declined 22 percent to €94.0 million from €120.5 million, which BioMérieux attributed to effects of COVID last year, lockdowns in China, and the continued slowdown of procalcitonin testing in the US.

Sales in the firm's industrial applications business segment, which includes BioFire Defense, grew 9 percent in the quarter to €132.9 million from €121.5 million. BioMérieux attributed the increase to reagent sales, led by microbiology and molecular ranges, in both food and pharmaceutical segments.

During the quarter, BioMérieux announced that it acquired 100 percent ownership of Specific Diagnostics for a total amount of €386 million. The firm said this was paid with a combination of €221 million in cash and 1.3 million in shares issued to certain Specific Diagnostics shareholders. The issuance of these new shares led to a dilution of pre-existing shareholders around 1 percent, and this dilution will be offset by a share buyback program before the end of 2022, BioMérieux said. As of June 30, about 900,000 shares have been already repurchased for a total amount of €82 million and the remaining 400,000 shares to be purchased have been booked under financial debt for €38 million, the firm said.

The firm also obtained de novo authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration for its BioFire Joint Infection Panel in the quarter, and CE marking for a Vidas assay for Chikungunya virus.

BioMérieux's net income in the first half of 2022 fell to €228 million, or €1.93 per share, from €277 million, or €2.33 per share, in the year-ago period.

Its R&D expenses increased 14 percent to €207.3 million from €181.0 million in the first half, while its SG&A spending increased 16 percent to €440.3 from €378.7 million for H1 of 2021. 

BioMérieux adjusted its annual sales guidance upward from a decline of 7 percent to 3 percent, to a decline of 6 percent to 3 percent.

Source: BioMérieux H1 Revenues Rise 5 Percent