Third-quarter 2009 Life Science Index sales grew 1.0% to $2,357.62 million. Operating profit climbed 10.9% to $420.02 million, and operating margins gained 160 basis points to 17.8% of sales.

Affymetrix’s third-quarter revenues fell 4.0%, 2.5% on a currency-neutral basis, to $78.2 million due to lower instrument sales. Product revenue improved 0.3% to $66.2 million, including revenue growth of 3.7% for consumables and a decline of 32.1% in instrument sales to account for 94% and 6% of product sales, respectively. The decline in instrument sales was adversely affected by lower pricing and sales volume of Probe Array systems and GeneChip Scanners. Consumable revenues benefited from higher sales of reagents following the acquisition of Panomics in December 2008 (see IBO 11/15/08), but were partially offset by lower demand for probe arrays. DNA revenue contracted 14.2% to $20.6 million, while RNA sales grew 12.1% to $39.9 million. Service revenue jumped 61.7% to make up 12% of sales due to increased genotyping-related services. Royalty and Other revenue declined 31.8% to account for 3% of sales. Adjusted operating loss narrowed to $7.1 million from a loss of $12.1 million a year ago, while gross profit margins rose 490 basis points to 54.1% of sales due to lower costs. The company anticipates fourth-quarter revenue to grow 4%–12% to $82–$85 million, including strong instrument sales of the GeneTitan.

Fiscal fourth-quarter revenue for Becton Dickinson’s BD Biosciences segment declined 5.2%, down 3.8% in constant currency to $312.2 million, to make up 16% of company sales. US sales fell 9.9% to $123.2 million, due to weak demand for research and clinical instruments as a result of funding constraints. International sales slipped 1.9%, but were flat in local currency, to $189.0 million. Adjusted operating revenue improved roughly 5.7% to $94.0 million due to lower operating expenditures. Cell Analysis sales fell 7.6%, down 6.0% on a currency-neutral basis, to $234.2 million, including a 14.9% and 3.0% decline in US and International sales to represent 36% and 64% of segment sales, respectively. International sales for Cell Analysis declined 0.3% in local currency. Discovery Labware revenue grew 2.8%, 3.3% on a currency-neutral basis, to $78.0 million. Discovery Labware’s US sales climbed 3.1% and International sales grew 2.4%, 3.4% in local currency, to each represent 50% of segment sales.

Full-year revenues for BD Biosciences improved 0.7%, 1.5% on a currency-neutral basis, to $1,203.8 million to account for 17% of Becton Dickinson’s sales. US sales fell 4.6% to $449.2 million, while international sales improved 4.2%, 5.5% in local currency, to $754.7 million. Full-year operating profit climbed 8.4% to $362.0 million. Cell Analysis revenues grew 0.4%, 1.4% on a currency-neutral basis, to account for 75% of segment revenue. US sales declined 6.4% to make up 34% of Cell Analysis sales, while international revenue rose 4.3%, 5.9% in local currency, to account for 66%. Discovery Labware sales improved 1.6%, 1.9% on a currency-neutral basis, to make up 25% of segment sales. US sales declined 0.4% to represent 49% of Discovery Labware sales, while international sales grew 3.6%, 4.2% in local currency, to account for 51%. For fiscal year 2010, BD Biosciences’ revenues are expected to increase 5%–6% on a currency-neutral basis to $1,270 billion. The company anticipates strong revenue contribution from stimulus spending, primarily from US and China government programs.

Biotage AB’s third-quarter revenues declined 1.8%, down 13% on a currency-neutral basis, to SEK 90.6 million ($12.4 million = SEK 7.29 = $1). Revenue growth was adversely affected by lower sales of instrument and accessories to pharmaceutical and biotech customers. Sales to the US, Europe and rest of the world accounted for 40%, 38% and 22%, respectively. Operating profit fell 70.9% to SEK 2.0 million ($0.3 million), while gross margins dropped 530 basis points to 56.5% of sales due to a shift in product mix.

Third-quarter sales for Caliper Life Sciences climbed 3.7% to $32.2 million, excluding the divested PDQ and AutoTrace product lines in 2008. The following comparisons are all on a pro forma basis. Research revenue grew 7.0% to $15.7 million due to higher sales of microfluidic products and Zephyr liquid handling instruments. Sales of mircrofluidic products climbed 21.0% to roughly $5.8 million due to an 18.9% and 12.6% jump in sales of LabChip GX instruments and consumables, respectively, but were partially offset by a 14.7% decline in sales of EZ Rider instruments. Imaging revenues improved 15.1%, 17% on a currency-neutral basis, to $12.2 million due to a 10% increase in IVIS instrument placements and a 17% jump in sales of reagents. Caliper Discovery Alliances & Services revenues declined 25.8% to $4.3 million. Overall, product sales climbed 14.2% to account for 65% of sales, while service revenue declined 11.5% to represent 26%, and license fees and contract revenue dropped 14.0% to make up 9%. Adjusted operating loss widened to $0.5 million from a loss of $0.3 million, while gross margins improved 130 basis points to 45.0% of sales due a shift in product mix. The company raised the bottom range of its 2009 revenue forecast by $1 million to $127–$129 for pro forma organic growth of 5%–7%. Fourth-quarter revenues are projected to grow 3% to $34.5–$36.5 million.

Sequenom’s third-quarter revenues fell 20.3% to $9.2 million due to weak demand from academic, pharmaceutical and clinical research markets. The decline in capital spending led system-related revenue down 35.7% to $3.7 million, but was partially offset by a 75% jump in system maintenance contracts. However, revenue for the contract services segment dropped 88.6% to $0.1 million due to restructuring measures. Consumable product revenue grew 9.8% to $5.4 million due to increased demand from biomedical research companies and the agricultural market. Adjusted operating loss widened to $14.6 million from a loss of $10.7 million a year ago, as the company continues to invest in R&D. Gross margins soared over 10 percentage points to 70.1% of sales because of higher consumables sales. For the first nine months, cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments declined by nearly half to $50.1 million as of September 30, however, the company expects to end the year with roughly $39 million in cash. Sequenom anticipates commercialization of its fetal Rhesus D and fetal sex determination tests by the second quarter of 2010.

Chart: Quarterly Sales Performance January 2006–September 2009

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

2006 1837 1875 1873 2120

2007 2018 2124 2106 2376

2008 2229 2442 2335 2406

2009 2209 2336 2358

Chart: Quarterly Operating Profit Margins January 2006–September 2009

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

2006 14.5% 13.5% 12.8% 16.2%

2007 14.9% 14.2% 14.9% 18.1%

2008 16.1% 15.6% 16.2% 18.1%

2009 16.1% 17.3% 17.8%