Original from: Genomeweb

BioM¨¦rieux announced on Wednesday that its third quarter revenues rose approximately 3 percent year over year due in part to unexpectedly strong sales in its BioFire product line.

For the quarter ended Sept. 30, the Marcy l¡¯¨¦toile, France-based firm reported €902.0 million ($905.6 million) in revenues compared to €877.4 million in the year-ago period. At constant exchange rates and scope of consolidation, revenues declined approximately 5 percent.

Overall, "This performance demonstrates the resilience of our syndromic offer and the relevancy of our innovative portfolio of solutions dedicated to the fight against antimicrobial resistance," said Alexandre M¨¦rieux, the firm's chairman and CEO, in a statement. 

The firm's clinical applications business, which consists of microbiology, molecular biology, and immunoassay products, increased sales by 1 percent in the quarter to €763.0 million from €756.6 million, which the firm attributed to a decline in COVID-related testing.

Within microbiology, BioM¨¦rieux reported revenues of €311.8 million, up nearly 16 percent from €269.8 million in Q3 2021. The firm attributed this to growth in instrument and reagent sales led by the Vitek automated ID/AST and blood culture BACT/ALERT product lines.

In molecular biology, the firm saw revenues decline approximately 1 percent to €333.5 million from €338.0 million. Within this business, BioFire respiratory panel sales were significantly lower than the prior-year quarter, which occurred during the Delta wave of the coronavirus pandemic. 

However, the firm said sales of its non-respiratory syndromic panels increased nearly 30 percent year over year, while demand for its respiratory panels were "steady during last quarter, [and] stronger than expected, showing the pertinence of the multiplexing solution in an environment with a higher number of respiratory pathogens circulating," BioM¨¦rieux said. 

The BioFire FilmArray installed base expanded by approximately 400 units in the quarter to 23,200 instruments.

Revenues for immunoassays declined nearly 16 percent to €101.4 million from €120.3 million, due to decreased demand for COVID-related assays and lower sales of the firm's procalcitonin assay. 

Sales in the firm's industrial applications business, meanwhile, were up 15 percent to €139.0 million from €120.8 million.

By region, sales in North America declined 3 percent to €398.4 million from €410.6 million, while sales in Latin America increased nearly 21 percent to €56.2 million from €46.5 million. Sales in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa rose approximately 2 percent to €274.4 million from €268.1 million, and sales in Asia Pacific were up nearly 14 percent to €173.0 million from €152.2 million. 

During the quarter, the firm announced the CE marking of a test called Covigra on its Vidas system for SARS-CoV-2 specific T-cell response. It also announced a share buyback program related to its Specific Diagnostics business. 

The firm is now targeting the upper range of previously announced guidance for full-year 2022 revenues of €3.2 billion to €3.3 billion.

Source: BioM¨¦rieux Q3 Revenues up 3 Percent