NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – BioMérieux reported today that its second quarter revenues grew 6 percent year over year, driven in part by strong sales of its FilmArray bio-surveillance system as well as strong product sales growth in the Americas.
For the three months ended June 30, the Marcy l'Etoile, France-based company reported €512.3 million ($568.6 million) in sales compared to €485.3 million in the year-ago period. Excluding a negative currency impact and the previously announced deconsolidation of BioTheranostics, the company reported year-over-year organic growth of more than 10 percent.
Sales in clinical applications rose 6 percent on a reported basis to €405.3 million, while industrial applications also rose 6 percent to €95.5 million.
Microbiology, the largest clinical segment, grew 1 percent to €219.9 million, driven mainly by sales of BioMerieux's blood culture products. Growth slowed in this segment for its Vitek automated microbial identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing products, due mainly to a dip in instrument sales that offset a mid-single digit increase on the reagents side.
Also within clinical, molecular biology rose 38 percent to €69.3 million, driven by €52 million in Q2 sales of the company's FilmArray molecular diagnostic products. Immunoassays, a third clinical segment, grew 2 percent to €115.1 million, spurred by sales growth of the firm's Vidas platform as well as increasing customer interest in tests of relatively high medical value, the firm said.
Within industrial applications, BioFire Defense product sales grew 74 percent to €9.8 million.
Each region contributed to consolidated growth, according to the firm. Sales for the Americas grew 13 percent to €205.3 million, European sales declined slightly to €210.3 million, and Asia-Pacific sales grew 9 percent to €95 million.
During the quarter, BioMérieux announced the acquisition of Hyglos, a Bernried, Germany-based company with expertise in the development and production of recombinant proteins used to detect endotoxins in pharmaceutical products. The company received US Food and Drug Administration clearance to extend its use of the Vidas BRAHMS PCT procalcitonin test to manage sepsis in patients. The company also received a CE mark for the Vidas AMH (anti-Müllerian hormone) test, which assesses the ovarian follicle reserve in women and helps to optimize protocols for medically assisted procreation.
For the first half of 2016, BioMerieux reported that the negative currency effect was €26 million, and its organic growth, excluding the negative currency and deconsolidating bioTheranostics effects, was almost 11 percent. Within the same period, the firm reported €113 million in FilmArray product sales.
BioMerieux's installed base at June 30 was approximately 86,700 instruments, including 3,100 FilmArray units.