Original from: 360dx

BioM¨¦rieux reported on Tuesday that its first quarter revenues grew approximately 7 percent year over year driven by growth in BioFire and microbiology sales.

For the three-month period ended March 31, BioM¨¦rieux's consolidated revenues rose to €965.2 million ($1.05 billion) from €905.7 million in the first quarter of 2022. At constant exchange rates and scope of consolidation the firm's revenues increased approximately 10 percent.

The Marcy l¡¯Étoile, France-based firm "delivered an extremely strong performance, demonstrating the relevance of its solutions to meet medical needs," Pierre Boulud, CEO of BioM¨¦rieux, said in a statement. An overall 14 percent growth in BioFire panel sales and the "promising" launch of the SpotFire system "illustrate the continuous development of the syndromic approach," Boulud said, adding that the microbiology franchise continued to perform "remarkably well" as well. 

"This strong quarterly performance represents a solid cornerstone to reach our 2024 financial objectives," Boulud said.

Revenues for the company's clinical applications segment grew 8 percent in the quarter to €818.8 million from €760.4 million in the year-ago period. Within that segment, molecular biology sales, which include the BioFire portfolio, rose 16 percent to €409.6 million from €352.7 million.

BioFire non-respiratory panel sales were up 19 percent at constant exchange rates and scope of consolidation, with respiratory panel sales increasing 12 percent. The installed base of BioFire systems increased by 300 units in the quarter, BioM¨¦rieux said, bringing the total installed base to about 25,700. SpotFire rapid point-of-care molecular system sales were €20 million in Q1, with an installed base increase of more than 400 units, bringing the total to approximately 1,200 units. 

Microbiology sales were up 5 percent to €314.2 million from €299.6 million led by Vitek automated ID/AST and BACT/ALERT blood culture reagents. Revenues from immunoassays, meanwhile, were down approximately 13 percent to €83.3 million from €95.6 million related in part to continued decline in procalcitonin testing.

Industrial application sales during the first quarter rose approximately 1 percent year over year to €146.5 million from €145.4 million, which the firm said was fueled by high-single-digit sales growth in reagents.

By geography, the Americas accounted for 52 percent of total sales, growing 10 percent to €502.3 million  from €455.4 million. Sales in North America grew 10 percent to €442.5 million from €402.7 million, while sales in Latin America grew approximately 14 percent to €59.9 million from €52.7 million. 

In Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, sales grew 6 percent to €303.5 million from €287.6 million, while sales in the Asia Pacific region declined 2 percent to €159.4 million from €162.7 million. 

In the quarter, BioM¨¦rieux obtained 510(k) clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration and CLIA waiver for the BioFire SpotFire Respiratory/Sore Throat (R/ST) Panel, which detects 15 bacteria and viruses in 15 minutes. 

BioM¨¦rieux confirmed its 2024 guidance for organic sales growth between 6 percent and 8 percent. 

Source: BioM¨¦rieux Q1 Revenues up 7 Percent on Strong Molecular Biology Sales