Six month report January - June 2004: Sales - in line with expectations

Marcy l'Etoile, France - July 21st, 2004. bioMérieux (Euronext : FR0010096479 – BIM) today announced: During the first six months to June 2004, bioMérieux achieved sales of Euros 461 million - an increase of 3 per cent compared to the same period in 2003. The strength of the Euro, versus the majority of other currencies and especially the US dollar, continues to affect sales. At constant exchange rates, growth would have been 6.9 per cent. This strong progression, which is in line with the company’s expectations, allows us to maintain our growth objective for the full year 2004 of 5-6 per cent, excluding currency impacts.