bioMerieux' 9-month sales rise 7% to $1.1B

French in vitro diagnostics specialist bioMerieux says that, in the nine months ended September 30, 2007, its net sales amounted to 778.1 million euros ($1.10 billion), an increase of 6.9% at constant exchange rates.

Income from the firm's most important market, Europe, rose 5.7% to 449.6 million euros, while revenue generated in North America jumped 8.4% to 192.6 million euros. Highest growth was seen in the Asia-Pacific region, where earnings jumped 12% to 86.6 million euros, while Latin American sales inched up 2.6% to 49.1 million euros.

According to bioMerieux, there was sustained strong expansion in Germany, the UK, Spain and the Middle East-Africa region. Excluding France, where sales rose 1.7%, growth in the region stood at 7.4%. In clinical applications, the advance remained strong in bacteriology, especially in the Vitek 2 line, and in molecular biology with, in particular, a sharp increase in sales in South Africa.