bioMerieux Strengthens Microbiology Lineup with US Acquisition

bioMerieux (Marcy l'Etoile, France) announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire BioFire Diagnostics Inc. (Salt Lake City, UT, USA), a privately held company specialized in molecular biology, for USD 450 million. BioFire is the inventor, manufacturer, and marketer of its multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) FilmArray system, a simple and rapid molecular biology solution for to the diagnosis of infectious diseases. With this acquisition, biomerieux intends to strengthen its position as a major player in infectious disease diagnostics.

Both companies present strong strategic synergies. The FilmArray system, in particular, represents a key asset in the development of bioMérieux’s franchise in infectious disease diagnostics, its primary area of expertise, which accounts for 85% of sales in clinical applications. BioFire’s solutions will benefit from bioMerieux’s broad commercial network, particularly in North America and Europe. In addition, bioMérieux will contribute its capabilities to the automation of reagent production, benefiting overall manufacturing costs.

BioFire, specialized in PCR technology, developed FilmArray, a system deemed a new standard in molecular diagnostics, specifically, a syndromic approach to infectious diseases. The approach based on analyzing the syndrome with a single reagent, identifies the pathogen responsible—whether bacteria or virus. BioFire’s first FilmArray product, the Respiratory Panel, which tests for 20 bacteria and viruses and delivers results in one hour, has received the CE marking and US FDA clearance. In addition, the sepsis panel was approved by the FDA at the end of June 2013. Other panels are currently under development include the gastrointestinal and meningitis panels.

Based on R&D in progress, FilmArray could make it possible to detect over 70 disease agents responsible for respiratory, gastrointestinal, and blood infections within the next three years. Thus, FilmArray is a good addition to bioMérieux’s distinct position in molecular biology, which is based on the easyMAG extraction system and the ARGENE range.

Jean-Luc Belingard, chairman and CEO of bioMérieux, said, “The acquisition of BioFire fits perfectly into bioMérieux’s selective strategy for external growth. Following the AES purchase, which strengthened our leadership in industrial applications, the purchase of ARGENE, which showed very strong organic growth of 31% at the end of June 2013, as well as our recently signed partnership with Quanterix in ultrasensitive and multiplex immunoassays, this new acquisition represents a decisive step for our company. It enables us to reinforce our infectious disease franchise, our main area of specialization. FilmArray is the only system that makes it possible to detect disease-causing viruses and bacteria using a single reagent. As such, it eliminates the borders between different technologies, simplifying the diagnosis of infectious diseases, and delivering faster results for better patient care.”

BioFire employs over 500 people. The company is expected to generate USD 70 million in sales in 2013, including USD 40 million from FilmArray.

bioMerieux, present in more than 150 countries through 41 subsidiaries and a large network of distributors, had EUR 1,570 million in revenues in 2012 with 87% of sales outside of France.

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