bioMérieux have announced the acquisition of Applied Maths, a company that develops state-of-the-art software solutions for the biosciences, in particular for databasing, analysis and interpretation of complex biological data. Since it was founded in 1992, the company has gained worldwide recognition by leveraging its strong and unique combined expertise in informatics and microbiology.

The interpretation of extensive and highly complex biological information generated by technologies such as next-generation sequencing (NGS), mass-spectrometry and molecular biology is becoming a critical success factor to provide high-precision diagnostic information to the scientific community and healthcare professionals. The in-depth understanding of biology also supports a trend towards more integrated therapeutic and diagnostic products. At the crossroads between biology and computing, the bioinformatics market is undergoing sustainable double-digit growth with the potential to turn big data into meaningful and actionable decisions for improved patient management.

With an installed base of over 81,000 instruments worldwide, bioMérieux’s automated diagnostic solutions are generating rapidly-increasing quantities of biological information that is key to improve clinical knowledge about disease-causing microorganisms.

Strengthening its bioinformatics know-how is instrumental to enable bioMérieux to enhance its offering in the analysis and interpretation of biological data. Initially, the acquisition of Applied Maths will enrich and expand the bioMérieux EpiSeq™ service in NGS for the epidemiological monitoring and control of healthcare-associated infections. Taking a more long-term perspective, synergies are foreseen in the field of clinical microbiology, particularly for the optimization of bioMérieux’s data management tools and unique collection of clinically-relevant bacterial strains, the consolidation of data from different instruments (including the recently-acquired FilmArray®), as well as in industrial microbiology to facilitate the traceability and investigations of epidemics all along the food chain.

Building on more than 20 years of expertise, Applied Maths develops and commercializes BioNumerics universal software for microbiology applications, including in bacteriology, virology and mycology. Through its ability to manage a wide range of different data types (phenotypic information, molecular PCR, genetic sequences, spectral profiles, whole genome maps, metadata, etc.), its superior reliability and excellent networking capabilities, BioNumerics has become the preferred software in many prestigious national and international projects, networks, and critical-mission applications for the integrated analysis of biological data.

“Bioinformatics unleashes the potential of big data management and may have an impact on in vitro diagnostics by progressively breaking down barriers between service offerings from laboratories and diagnostic solutions commercialized by IVD companies,” said Jean-Luc Belingard, Chairman of bioMérieux. “True to our pioneering spirit, we are opening up new markets. The acquisition of Applied Maths with its powerful BioNumerics software suite will help answer the most recent expectations of our customers, facing a growing digitalization of the laboratory environment and requiring more insights to make more informed clinical decisions for better patient care.”