IBO’s Life Science and Analytical Instrument Indexes track quarterly sales and operating profit margins of 21 major publicly held instrument and laboratory product companies. Results are published on a quarterly basis.

In the first nine calendar months of 2015, major publicly held instrument and lab product firms reported strong underlying growth, led primarily by biopharmaceutical demand in the US and Asia. However, currency headwinds, as well as challenges in industrial markets and Japan suppressed top-line growth for most companies. For the businesses in IBO’s Life Science and Analytical Instrument Indexes, combined reported sales, which exclude acquisitions and divestments, grew 2.9% for the first nine months of 2015.

Excluding currency headwinds of 3.1%, organic growth expanded 6.0%, representing the fastest organic growth for the combined Indexes for the nine-month period since 2011. Excluding Illumina, the Indexes’ combined sales advanced 4.6%. All organic sales figures exclude acquisitions and divestments, as well as currency, and are based on constant exchange rates for foreign companies when converted into US dollars.

Biopharmaceutical demand expanded at a slight upward trajectory for the year, resulting in double-digit biopharmaceutical sales growth for Agilent Technologies, Merck KGaA Life Science (Merck LS), Thermo Fisher Scientific and Waters in the first nine months of 2015. During this period, organic biopharmaceutical sales for Agilent climbed 15%, 12% for both Thermo and Waters, and 10% for Merck LS. Bioproduction demand was particularly strong for both Merck LS and Thermo.

Applied markets further contributed to organic growth for the first nine months, driven by demand for food and environmental applications in the US and China. Academic and government markets improved slightly throughout the year, with pockets of strength in the US, Europe and China for a number of companies. However, slower academic and government spending in Japan and Eastern Europe partially offset growth. For the nine-month period, academic and government sales for Agilent and Thermo were roughly flat but improved modestly for PerkinElmer, with the exception of Japan. Waters recorded roughly 5% academic and government revenue growth in the nine-month period.

The most vulnerable markets were industrial applications due to sinking commodity prices. As a result, sales for most industrial-related businesses in the Indexes declined in the nine-month period. Similarly, Japanese demand negatively impacted top-line growth for most US companies due to delayed government spending and tougher competitive pricing as a result of currency. In the nine-month period, Japanese sales declined roughly 5% for Agilent but were modestly higher for Thermo and grew 2% for Waters.

The IBO Life Science Index maintained steady growth in the first nine months of 2015, as organic sales climbed 7.9%. Adjusted operating margins improved 160 basis points to 24.3% in the period. Index growth benefited from strong sequencing demand, especially from Illumina. The company recorded sequencing-related revenue growth of 29% in the period, but this included significant contributions from Illumina’s clinical and reproductive health–related businesses. Clinical-related demand similarly added to revenue growth for PerkinElmer’s Human Health, and Affymetrix’s Genetic Analysis and Clinical segments. Excluding Illumina, IBO Life Science Index sales grew 5.0% organically and adjusted operating margin advanced 110 basis points to 22.9% in the nine-month 2015 period.

Revenue for IBO’s Analytical Instrument Index improved 4.3% in the first nine months of 2015, driven by demand for LC and LC/MS systems. Adjusted operating margin expanded 100 basis points to 17.7% during the same period.