bioMérieux Announces Termination of its Collaboration with Biocartis in Molecular Biology

Regulatory News :

bioMérieux (Paris:BIM), a world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics, and Biocartis have mutually agreed to end their collaboration to develop and commercialize an integrated molecular biology system.

Renouncing to its rights relating to Biocartis’ technology in particular in molecular microbiology, bioMérieux will depreciate their corresponding net accounting value and will book a corresponding non-cash expense amounting to €6 million in non-recurring items in 2013.

bioMérieux will, however, remain a Biocartis shareholder.

Both companies will be free to pursue their development in molecular biology independently. In particular, this decision will let bioMérieux focus its R&D and S&M resources and investments on other molecular biology programs.

bioMérieux will target nucleic acid extraction, where the Company’s easyMAG^® system has a leading position, and the diagnosis of infectious diseases, its core strategic area. In this particular field, it will leverage the ARGENE^® range of assays dedicated to immunocompromised patients, commercialize the RAS tests primarily in India and, over the medium term, in emerging markets and finalize the acquisition of BioFire. This U.S.-based company specialized in molecular biology invented, manufactures and commercializes FilmArray^®, an integrated multiplex PCR system dedicated to infectious disease diagnosis in specialized or decentralized hospital laboratories. Simple and rapid, FilmArray^® and its syndrome-based panel approach make it possible to simultaneously and accurately detect disease-causing viruses and bacteria in a one-hour test, thereby shortening time-to-result and improving medical decision making. FilmArray^® respiratory and blood culture panels have been CE-marked and cleared by the FDA.

Jean-Luc Belingard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, declares: "bioMérieux is actively pursuing its strategy, as a specialized in vitro diagnostics player, primarily focusing on infectious diseases. Based on proprietary technologies and our complete range of added-value systems already commercially available, our ambition is to bring to laboratories the molecular biology solutions they need to complement traditional techniques and contribute to improve infectious disease diagnostics.”

ABOUT BIOMERIEUX

Pioneering Diagnostics

A world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics for 50 years, bioMérieux is present in more than 150 countries through 41 subsidiaries and a large network of distributors. In 2012, revenues reached €1,570 million with 87% of sales outside of France.

bioMérieux provides diagnostic solutions (reagents, instruments, software) which determine the source of disease and contamination to improve patient health and ensure consumer safety. Its products are used for diagnosing infectious diseases and providing high medical value results for cancer screening and monitoring and cardiovascular emergencies. They are also used for detecting microorganisms in agri-food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products.

bioMérieux is listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris market (Symbol: BIM – ISIN: FR0010096479).

Corporate website: www.biomerieux.com. Investor website: www.biomerieux-finance.com.