bioMérieux Strengthens North American Executive Management Team

A world leader in in vitro diagnostics, bioMérieux today announced the appointment of Manuel O. Mendez as Executive Vice President, North American Commercial Operations of bioMérieux, Inc. His new position becomes effective May 17, 2010.

Mr. Mendez has enjoyed a distinguished 20-year career in the medical and scientific fields, and before joining bioMérieux, he most recently served as Senior Vice President, Marketing and Sales at OraSure Technologies, Inc. Prior to that position, he was the Head of Global Sales, Global Chemicals, BioSciences at Thermo Fisher Scientific, where he held several management positions, including responsibility for the sales operations of a $350 million business unit.

Mr. Mendez spent 16 years with Abbott Laboratories, Diagnostics Division, where he built a successful career in General Management, Sales, Global Marketing and Business Development, in locations ranging from North America to Latin America, Asia and Europe. His experience included service as General Manager in Korea and General Manager for the Benelux region (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg).

"Manuel is a proven leader in the diagnostics industry and has the talent required to lead the Commercial Operations for our North American subsidiary," said Thierry Bernard, bioMérieux’s Corporate Vice President of Global Commercial Operations. "The US is bioMérieux’s number one geographic priority, and his global perspective on healthcare and extensive experience in driving sustainable growth will surely strengthen the US operations."

Mr. Mendez received a B.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University and an MBA degree from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management.

About bioMérieux

Advancing diagnostics to improve public health

A world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics for over 45 years, bioMérieux is present in more than 150 countries through 39 subsidiaries and a large network of distributors. In 2009, revenues reached €1.223 billion with 85% 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. Our 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.com

Contacts

Investor Relations

bioMérieux
Isabelle Tongio
Tel: + 33 4 78 87 22 37
investor.relations@eu.biomerieux.com

Media Relations

bioMérieux
Koren Wolman-Tardy
Tel: + 33 4 78 87 20 08
media@eu.biomerieux.com

bioMérieux Inc.
Allan Mohess
Tel: + 1 919-620-2937
allan.mohess@biomerieux.com

Fleishman-Hillard
Kimberly Mays
Tel: + 1 216-928-3459
kimberly.mays@fleishman.com

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Tiphaine Hecketsweiler
Tel: + 33 1 53 70 74 59
thecketsweiler@image7.fr