BioMerieux reports satisfactory growth for first quarter of 2012

BioMerieux has reported year-on-year growth in the first quarter of 2012 that was in line with the company's objectives for the period.

The in vitro diagnostics specialist saw net sales rise by 9.3 percent compared to Q1 2011 to reach a total of 363 million euros (296.04 million pounds).

Drivers of this growth included the company's strong performance in industrial applications and improving revenues from China and India, while approvals were achieved for products such as the Adiavet Schmallenberg virus PCR kit and Vidas anti-HCV test.

During the remainder of 2012, BioMerieux will aim to continue the integration of AES Laboratoire and Argene, while advancing the development of five new platforms and creating a commercial subsidiary in Malaysia.

Jean-Luc Belingard, chairman and chief executive officer of BioMerieux, said: "Backed by these encouraging achievements and a robust portfolio of orders under negotiation, we confirm our 2012 sales growth objective."

This comes after the firm achieved annual sales growth of 5.2 percent last year, thanks to the success of its 2011 product launches and acquisitions.