bioMérieux Joins with “Step-on-Sepsis” as the Primary Corporate Sponsor of North Carolina’s 5K Walk to Raise Awareness of Sepsis, One of the Leading Causes of Death in the U.S.

Durham, NC (April 30, 2015) – For the second year in a row, bioMérieux, a world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics, is proud to announce that it is the primary corporate sponsor of the “Second Annual Step-On-Sepsis 5K Road Race & Walk,” which will be held Saturday, May 2 in Cary, North Carolina. The event is held to raise awareness of sepsis and to commemorate the life of Jerry Minore, an otherwise healthy 55-year-old man who died in 2012 from sepsis caused by a urinary tract infection.

In addition to providing financial sponsorship, bioMérieux will provide literature and educational materials on the risks and prevalence of sepsis. Additionally, bioMérieux employees and their family members will show their support by participating in the event, which aims at reducing sepsis by informing the local community of this condition.

Following the death of Jerry Minore, his neighbors and friends, Helene and Jeff Zehnder founded and organized the inaugural Step-On-Sepsis 5k Road Race & Walk last year. The Honorary Chairperson of this year’s event is Rusty Wagstaff, a resident of Wendell, NC who lost his legs and hands to sepsis in 2013.

“It’s still hard to believe that Jerry is gone and that he went from a perfectly healthy man to a victim of sepsis so quickly,” said Jeff Zehnder. “Sepsis is the only leading cause of death that no one seems to have heard of. That’s why we will continue to organize this event—in memory of Jerry and others who were taken so quickly and to raise awareness about the dangers of sepsis. We are very grateful for bioMérieux’s shared commitment to raise awareness and to reduce the staggering number of sepsis fatalities that occur in the U.S. each year.

According the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) there were 1.6 million hospitalization in 2009 for sepsis and nearly 260,000 fatalities. This made sepsis the third leading cause of death in 2009 behind cancer and heart disease. Sepsis occurs when the immune system mounts an overwhelming response to a serious systemic infection that is often far more dangerous than the infection itself.

“bioMérieux, Inc. has made the rapid detection of sepsis one of our primary public health goals.” said Stefan Willemsen, CEO of bioMérieux Inc. “Early treatment is key to surviving sepsis, and early detection is key to early treatment. This is why bioMérieux is focused on bringing to market innovative and rapid tools both to detect sepsis in the early stages and to quickly direct treatment toward the right bacteria.”

bioMérieux offers the most comprehensive arsenal of detection and diagnostic tools for the earliest possible detection of sepsis and verification of the systemic infections that often lead to sepsis:

• The VIDAS® BRAHMS PCT assay: Cleared by the FDA to be used with critically ill patients on their first day of admission to the Intensive Care Unit as an aid to assess their risk for progression to severe sepsis and septic shock.
• The BioFire FilmArray® Blood Culture Identification (BCID) Panel: The FilmArray BCID Panel provides results from positive blood cultures, and can identify more than 20 pathogens known to cause sepsis, as well as 3 known genes that can make these pathogens resistant to antibiotics.
• The VITEK® MS: Granted U.S. FDA 510(k) de novo clearance for as the first clinical mass spectrometry-based systems available in the U.S. for rapid identification of disease-causing bacteria and yeast.

To learn more about bioMérieux’s full sepsis solution, visit www.sepsisknowfromday1.com

This year’s Step-on-Sepsis event will be held on Saturday, May 2, 2015, at the Wake Med Soccer Park (201 Soccer Park Dr.) in Cary, NC 27511. The race will begin at 9 am. For more information and to register, visit: http://www.steponsepsis.org/

About bioMérieux

Pioneering Diagnostics

A world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics for 50 years, bioMérieux is present in more than 150 countries through 42 subsidiaries and a large network of distributors. In 2014, revenues reached €1.698 billion with 88% 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. Its 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-usa.com

Contacts:

Media Relations

bioMérieux
Suzanne Jones
Tel: +1 919-479-3637
suzanne.jones@biomerieux.com

Baker & Yorke
Tim Baker
Tel: + 1 216-338-8086
tbaker@baker-yorke.com

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