BioMérieux explained

bioMérieux SA
Type:	Société Anonyme
Industry:	Biotechnology
Products:	in vitro diagnostics
Traded As:	CAC Next 20 component
Founder:	Dr Alain Mérieux
Key People:	Pierre Boulud (CEO) Alexandre Mérieux (Chairman) Dr Marcel Mérieux Dr Charles Mérieux
Location:	Marcy-l'Étoile, France
Area Served:	Worldwide
Revenue:	€3.1 billion (2020)
Num Employees:	12,800 (2020)

bioMérieux SA is a French multinational biotechnology company founded and headquartered in Marcy-l'Étoile, France, close to Lyon. bioMérieux is present in 44 countries and serves more than 160 countries through a large network of distributors.^[1]

bioMérieux provides diagnostic solutions (reagents, instruments, software, services) which determine the source of disease and contamination to improve patient health and ensure consumer safety. Its products are used for diagnosing infectious diseases, cancer screening, and monitoring and cardiovascular emergencies. They are also used for detecting microorganisms in agri-food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products.^[2] bioMérieux is listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange (BIM – ISIN: FR0013280286).

Revenue

bioMérieux had revenues of €3.1 billion as of 2020 with 93% of sales occurring outside France.^[3]

History

In 1897, Marcel Mérieux, former assistant to Louis Pasteur, founded the Mérieux Biological Institute, which later became Institut Mérieux.^[4] In 1963, Alain Mérieux founded BD Mérieux, of which he became majority shareholder in 1974. BD Mérieux would later become bioMérieux.^[5] The company expanded its services and offerings through product development, acquisitions and partnerships:

• Api Systems, acquired in 1987^[6]
• Vitek Systems, acquired in 1988^[6]
• Organon Teknika, acquired in 2001 from Akzo Nobel^[7]
• Bacterial Barcodes, acquired in 2006^[8]
• Biomedics (Spain) and BTF (Australia), acquired in 2007^[9]
• AB Biodisk (Sweden), AviaraDx (bioTheragnostics today) (USA) and PML Microbiologicals (USA), acquired in 2008^[10]
• Meikang Biotech and of Shanghai Zenka Biotechnology, acquired in 2010^[11]
• AES Laboratoire and Argene (France), acquired in 2011^[12]
• RAS (India), a specialist in molecular biology, acquired in 2012
• Partnership with Quanterix in 2012 for the development of a new generation of ultrasensitive, multiplex immunoassays.^[13]
• BioFire Diagnostics Inc., a privately held US-based company specialized in molecular biology,^{[14] [15]} acquired in 2014
• BioMerieux molecular biology affiliate BioFire, LLC. opened the Alain Mérieux Center for Molecular Diagnostics in Salt Lake City, Utah^[16] in 2017
• Invisible Sentinel, A Philadelphia life sciences company that develops novel technology to quickly detect pathogens in food and beverages including wine and beer.^[17]

Institut Mérieux, which belongs to the Mérieux family, is the main shareholder of bioMérieux. Jean-Luc Bélingard is President, and Alexandre Mérieux is General Director. bioMérieux was listed on the stock exchange in 2004.^[18]

Labrador Diagnostics filed a lawsuit against BioFire Diagnostics, a subsidiary of bioMérieux, for patent infringement on March 9, 2020.^[19] On March 11, 2020, bioMérieux announced the finalization of their real-time PCR SARS-COV-2 R-GENE test. The company also announced the development of a fully automated test based on the BioFire FilmArray technology with the support of the United States Department of Defense. Lastly, bioMérieux launched development on an expanded version of its BioFire FilmArray Respiratory Panel 2. The new version included SARS-CoV-2 in addition to the 21 other common respiratory pathogens and delivered results in approximately 45 minutes.^{[20] [21] [22]} After this announcement, Labrador issued a statement claiming that when it filed the lawsuit against BioFire it had no idea BioFire was developing COVID-19 testing kits.^{[23] [24]} Fortress Investment Group, parent company to Labrador, offered to grant both the defendants and anyone else a royalty-free license for its technology for use in COVID-19 tests. bioMérieux and BioFire declined Labrador's offer.

In June 2021, bioMérieux launched EPISEQ SARS-COV-2, a cloud-based software application for the epidemiological surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 variants. The application identifies variants based on international nomenclatures, including any new variant of concern (VOC), and is compatible with three major sequencing platforms (Illumina, Oxford Nanopore, Thermo Fisher).^[25]

Shareholders

As of February 2021:^[26]

Nom
Institut Mérieux	58.9%
Groupe Dassault	4.6%
GIMD	4.6%
Sofina	2.1%
Employees	0.6%

External links

• Corporate Website
• Investor website
• bioMerieux USA Website
• Bloomberg Snapshot

Notes and References

1. Web site: Company Profile. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20171107012815/https://www.euronext.com/en/products/equities/FR0010096479-XPAR/company-information . 2017-11-07 . Euronext.
2. Web site: Stocks. 2020-11-03. Bloomberg.com. en.
3. Web site: 2020 Financial Results. bioMérieux Corporate Website. en.
4. Web site: A PASTEURIAN TRADITION. 2021-07-27. Institut Merieux. en.
5. Web site: Alain MERIEUX. 2021-07-27. France China Foundation. en.
6. Web site: bioMérieux 2013. 2021-07-27. dokumen.tips. en.
7. Web site: Akzo Nobel transfers Organon Teknika's diagnostics business to bioMérieux AkzoNobel. 2020-11-03. www.akzonobel.com.
8. Web site: * :: Scrip . 2017-11-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171107025412/https://scrip.pharmaintelligence.informa.com/deals/200610151 . 2017-11-07 . dead .
9. Web site: Biomerieux S.A. Acquires BTF Pty. Mergr. 2020-11-03. mergr.com.
10. News: 2008-12-08. BioMerieux buys U.S. microbiology firm. en. Reuters. 2020-11-03.
11. Web site: Pharma commercial intelligence, news & analysis Evaluate. 2020-11-03. www.evaluate.com.
12. Web site: BioMérieux Acquires AES Laboratoire. 2020-11-03. Quality Assurance & Food Safety. en.
13. Web site: bioMérieux and Quanterix Sign Strategic Partnership in Ultrasensitive and Multiplex Immunoassays Quanterix. 2020-11-03. www.quanterix.com.
14. Web site: BioMerieux Finalizes BioFire Diagnostics Acquisition. 2020-11-03. GenomeWeb. 16 January 2014 . en-us.
15. News: 2013-09-04. BioMerieux buys diagnostics rival BioFire for $450 mln. en. Reuters. 2020-11-03.
16. Web site: Jun 29. Elaine Sanchez Wilson . Diagnostics 0 . 2017 Molecular. 2017-06-30. BioFire Opens Center for Molecular Diagnostics. 2020-11-03. Clinical Lab Product. en-US.
17. Web site: $75 million deal: Invisible Sentinel sold to French biotech company. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210509085704/https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2019/02/07/75-million-deal-invisible-sentinel-sold-to-french.html . 2021-05-09 . 2020-11-03. www.bizjournals.com.
18. Web site: BioMerieux, a Family-Owned French Firm, Finally Goes Public :: In Vivo . 2017-11-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171107020033/https://invivo.pharmaintelligence.informa.com/IV002374/bioMerieux-a-FamilyOwned-French-Firm-Finally-Goes-Public . 2017-11-07 . dead .
19. Web site: LABRADOR DIAGNOSTICS V. BIOFIRE DIAGNOSTICS, LLC and BIOMERIEUX S.A.. IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE.
20. Web site: First of 3 diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus available from bioMérieux. March 11, 2020.
21. Web site: ARGENE® SARS-COV-2 R-GENE®. FDA.gov.
22. Web site: BioFire® Respiratory Panel 2.1 (RP2.1) . FDA.gov.
23. Web site: Fortress withdraws patent lawsuit over COVID-19 testing discovery. Edward Pearcey. Life Sciences IP Review.
24. Web site: Labrador Diagnostics Will Grant Royalty-free Licenses for COVID-19 Testing. March 17, 2020. Business Wire.
25. Web site: First of 3 diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus available from bioMérieux . Select Science. June 30, 2021 . 2021-07-27.
26. Web site: Boursorama. Bourse. Zone. www.boursorama.com. fr. 2021-02-24.