Medical Device Daily and Staff Reports

French in vitro diagnostics leader bioMerieux (Marcy L’Etoile, France) said it has acquired BTF Precise Microbiology (BTF; Sydney, Australia), along with its prized technology for testing food, water and pharmaceutical products.

BTF has built a niche in industrial microbiology and its acquisition by bioMerieux is expected to result in new products for a broad spectrum of life sciences applications for media quality control, quantitative quality control, method validation, accreditation compliance and multi-laboratory standardization.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

BTF was privately held by its founders and the venture capital firm Kestrel Capital. It will operate as a stand-alone subsidiary of bioMerieux.

In addition to integrating the BTF technology into its product portfolio, bioMerieux said it will “significantly expand” market opportunities for BTF innovations through its commercial network, covering 150 countries through a combination of 35 subsidiaries and a network of distributors.

bioMerieux offers diagnostic tools to determine sources of infectious diseases and contamination, identify high-risk cardiovascular conditions and screen for cancer. The company’s products are also used for detecting microorganisms in food products, pharmaceuticals and cosmetic products.

“We are acutely aware of the quality-assurance challenges our customers are facing and are constantly on the lookout for technological breakthroughs that can facilitate their work,” said Alexandre Merieux, VP for industrial microbiology at the French company.

BTF products are used in quality control for testing processes, to verify the performance of control methods and assure precise reference samples for analytical laboratories.

According to bioMerieux’s manager for pharmaceutical marketing, Renaud Jonquieres, the accuracy of BTF’s BioBall technology is essential for pharmaceutical companies facing significant penalties for non-compliance with quality control requirements. He said some major companies in recent years have experienced shut-downs of facilities due to failed inspections.

BioBall is used in processing systems to remove host bacteria from biologics that need to be validated before they can be included in a manufacturing process. The BTF technology is described as a labor-saving device for bacterial preparation needed to ensure the sterility of vaccines, pharmaceuticals and clean rooms.

BTF is the third company acquired in the past 12 months by bioMerieux as it pursues an aggressive five-year strategy — unveiled in January — to build its core competencies in a growing market for diagnostics of infectious diseases.

In April, bioMerieux acquired privately-held Biomedics (Madrid, Spain), a specialist in the production of culture media. Biomedics produces 11 million petri dishes a year, with 2006 sales of 14.1 million ($5.7 million).

In September 2006, bioMerieux.acquired Bacterial Barcodes (Athens, Georgia), a molecular biotechnology firm with a patented system for automated microbial genotyping to track hospital-acquired infections and for environmental control for product safety (Medical Device Daily; Sept. 20, 2006).

bioMerieux’s revenues in 2006 topped 11.04 billion ($1.43 billion), with 83% of sales outside of France. Only 26% of sales come from the U.S., currently seen as a weakness among stock analysts in Paris. Europe, the Middle East and Africa account for 40% of company sales, while the Asia-Pacific region contributes 11%.

The company has 5,800 employees worldwide. BTF had 2006 sales of A$4 million ($3.4 million) and employs 26.

Guerbet rebounds from production problems

Guerbet (Villepinte, France), specializing in imaging contrast agents, reported a 12% gain in profits in the first half of 2007 as well as unveiling an ambitious plan to more than double production capacity.

The announcement shows a strong rebound for Guerbet, which reported profitability down 18% for 2006, due to unspecified “production incidents.”

Sales were up 5.4% to 1152 million ($211 million), with a 12.3% increase in net income to 112.2 million ($16.9 million)

Sales growth of flagship products Dotarem and Xenetix grew 19.2% and 4%, respectively, with particularly robust performances in France, Germany and Italy, the company said. These two products acount for two-thirds of sales.

Guerbet reported growth in its current production was achieved “without noteworthy incidents” and that the impact of this significant manufacturing improvement will show up in its financial report for the full year.

Sales of Xenetix are “currently slowed by production capacity, could become the leading product for medical imaging contrast in Europe,” according to Chief Executive Philippe Decazes. He said the company will invest up to 1130 million ($180 million) in new production facilities that are expected to come on line in 2008.

U.S. firm acquires Evotec business unit

Evotec (Hamburg, Germany) said it has sold its Chemical Development business to Aptuit (Greenwich, Connecticut) in a cash deal valued at some 146.4 million (about $63.9 million).

The Chemical Development business includes Evotec’s capabilities in process research and development, custom preparation, analytical development, pilot plant manufacturing and formulation. With about 210 employees based in Oxford and Glasgow, UK, the business generated 126.8 million in revenues in 2006.

Aptuit said it intends to retain all of the employees of the Chemical Development business.

J rn Aldag, president and CEO of Evotec, said the deal “will allow Evotec to focus even more on its strategy to become an emerging pharmaceutical company providing higher-value research solutions to our partners through collaborative research and partnering of preclinical and clinical programs developed internally.”

Aldag said the transaction “put[s] us in a much stronger position to leverage our clinical CNS [central nervous system] assets and we are committed to further expand our pipeline and capabilities through in-licensing or M&A.”

Michael Griffith, CEO and founder of Aptuit, said the acquisition “continues Aptuit’s momentum as we assemble a complete suite of drug development services in all three major geographies in Europe, North America and Asia. We will integrate the highly-regarded scientific staff and two pilot plants in Oxford and parenteral fill/finish capabilities in Glasgow into our existing global network.”