Marcy l’Etoile, France - December 3, 2009. bioMérieux, a world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics, today announced that it has sold all of its shares in ExonHit Therapeutics S.A. These shares had been acquired in November 2005, at the initial public offering of ExonHit Therapeutics and their sale is part of bioMérieux's regular stock portfolio management.
The related capital gain should be offset with pending capital losses on other investments and its net impact after taxes should not be significant.
bioMérieux continues to collaborate with ExonHit Therapeutics to develop blood biomarkers for the detection of colon and prostate cancers, addressing the limits of current techniques. Results are expected starting in March 2010.
About bioMérieux
Advancing diagnostics to improve public health
A world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics for over 45 years, bioMérieux is present in more than 150 countries through 39 subsidiaries and a large network of distributors. In 2008, revenues reached €1.111 billion with 84% 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. Our 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).
Other information can be found at www.biomerieux.com.