bioMérieux celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2003. Set up in 1963 with only 20 or so employees, we now have more than 5,300 employees worldwide. Their motivation, commitment and passion have made this exciting venture possible.
In 2003, with more than 80 percent of our sales generated internationally, bioMérieux confirmed its position as a world player in the in vitro diagnostics field, particularly in infectious diseases and industrial microbiology.

We have strengthened investment in our production capacities in Europe, the USA and Brazil while reducing our debt to 51 percent of our shareholders’ equity and achieving net income of 55 million euros.

We have consolidated our research and development potential by investing in new partnerships: We have set up an advanced technologies unit in Grenoble in the area of micro and nanotechnologies applied to molecular biology. We have signed partnership agreements with the Californian company Cepheid to gain access to molecular biology platforms and with the Quebec company IDI to gain access to new microbiology targets. Our research effort resulted in the launch of Food Expert-ID, the first high-density DNA chip for food and animal feed testing. It will soon see the launch of three further systems: Tempo in the industrial area, VITEK 2 Compact in clinical bacteriology and VIDIA in immunoassays.

Now is the opportunity for bioMérieux, a company dedicated to biology, to continue to adapt and fight new emerging diseases, pursue technological developments, respond to public health needs worldwide and increase its presence in new markets like China and India.

Thanks to the professionalism and motivation of our teams, we will meet these challenges together.

Alain Mérieux