Message from the CEO
May 2012
Patrick J. Balthrop, President and CEO, joined Luminex in May of 2004. He was elected to the Board of Directors shortly thereafter. Click here for bio.
Luminex is off to another strong start in 2012. For the first quarter, we delivered solid operating and financial performance. Our assay franchise in particular showed excellent growth with significant contribution from our most recent acquisition, EraGen Biosciences, now Luminex Madison. We expanded our assay and instrument portfolios as Luminex received CE marking for both the xMAP® NeoPlex4® assay and the NeoPlex automated system. Additionally, we have added momentum to the sales and distribution of MAGPIX® with the extension of our long-term partnership with Bio-Rad Laboratories®. We are excited for the remainder of 2012 and the significant growth opportunities ahead.
First Quarter 2012 Financial Results
Luminex’s financial highlights from the first quarter 2012 include:
- Consolidated first quarter revenue was $48.7 million, a 13 percent increase over first quarter 2011
- Assay revenue was $17.3 million in first quarter 2012, an 80 percent increase over first quarter 2011
- Instrument shipments in first quarter 2012 totaled 206 - including 55 MAGPIX systems, resulting in cumulative life-to-date shipments of 8,884, up 12 percent from a year ago
- Consolidated gross profit margin was 69 percent for the first quarter of 2012
- Extended a global sales and distribution agreement with Bio-Rad Laboratories to 2023 including expanded access to the award winning MAGPIX multiplexing analyzer
- Received CE marking for our newborn screening assay, xMAP NeoPlex4, and a fully automated instrument, the NeoPlex System
Setting New Standards of Care for Newborn Screening
Millions of infants have blood samples drawn via a heel stick shortly after birth. These samples are analyzed to detect rare disorders that could threaten their lives and long-term health. For most of these disorders, there is no medical history of the condition in the family and no way to predict the health of a baby based on the health of the parents. Early screening, diagnosis and proper treatment can decrease newborn morbidity and mortality, and also improve the infant's quality of life and life expectancy.
The NeoPlex System is Luminex's first fully automated, walk-away sample processing instrument. The NeoPlex4 Assay and NeoPlex System are part of a growing total solution Luminex has developed for newborn testing labs. Additional products provided to these labs include Luminex's BSD 300 Semi-Automated Punch System, which is a system that automates the process of punching samples of dried blood spots prior to analysis. We also recently introduced CardScan™, a system which helps nurses and midwives analyze blood spots for accuracy. This allows them to select the best punch, thereby reducing sample errors and the need to redraw blood prior to sending them for screening.
Launch of the NeoPlex4 Assay and NeoPlex System in Europe is an important step forward for the company and represents a significant milestone in our mission to advance healthcare. The ability to provide more data with less sample saves these life-saving laboratories precious time and resources and allows affected infants to be identified and treated more quickly.
Luminex Madison
We are extremely pleased with the results of our 2011 acquisition of EraGen, now Luminex Madison. The infectious disease tests that this great organization has developed have been extremely well received. The largest and most demanding laboratory customers in the U.S. are adopting the assay products from Luminex Madison.
The integration is substantially complete and the results are strong. In a short time we have successfully grown the customer base for MultiCode® -RTx based assays and this business is on track as anticipated to be accretive in 2012.
Strategic Growth in Assays
We also realized solid growth across our other assay franchises, such as genetic testing with our Cystic Fibrosis portfolio, and infectious disease testing, which include our Respiratory Viral and our Gastrointestinal Pathogen Panels. Our Gastrointestinal Pathogen Panel has generated a high-level of interest among key European centers and was on full display at the influential European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Conference (ECCMID) held in London at the end of March.
In addition to our new assay products we announced the expansion of two dedicated groups within our organization: the Life Science and the Biodefense Groups, each with focused initiatives on the development of Luminex technology into these important market segments. While we have already been participating in these markets, further investment in these groups provides additional growth opportunities to build Luminex leadership, advance scientific research and provide additional solutions for these important customers.
We are excited by the growth opportunities these evolving market segments represent. The expansion in both biodefense and life science reflects our commitment to broadening our leadership in areas beyond life science research proteins and clinical diagnostics and developing solutions to meet the varied needs of our diverse customer base.
Expanded Partnership - Bio-Rad Laboratories
In early April we extended and expanded our global sales and distribution agreement with Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. to 2023. As part of the agreement, Bio-Rad will now offer the full range of Luminex's xMAP systems including the MAGPIX system. Introduced in 2010, MAGPIX is our most compact and flexible instrument that simultaneously detects up to 50 different analytes (including proteins and nucleic acids) on a single sample quickly, accurately and reproducibly. Bio-Rad will now offer the full range of Luminex xMAP systems as part of a complete product offering including an extensive assay menu.
Together with our other MAGPIX distribution partners, Life Technologies™ and EMD Millipore®, Bio-Rad will accelerate the pace of adoption of MAGPIX. This additional partnership for MAGPIX reflects our continued commitment to provide the global research community with today’s most innovative technologies.
An Exciting Future Ahead
We are pleased with our progress in the first quarter of 2012 and remain focused and on track with our strategic initiatives and in executing our growth strategy. We remain committed to developing innovative products that improve the health, safety and quality of life for people around the world and look forward to keeping you informed on our progress throughout the year.
Sincerely,
Patrick J. Balthrop, Sr.
President and Chief Executive Officer
