Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc. announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010.First-quarter reported revenues were $454.2 million, up 13.3% compared to $400.9 million reported for the first quarter of 2009. On a currency-neutral basis, quarterly revenues increased 7.9% compared to the same period last year. This increase was due to a combination of organic growth across Bio‑Rad's two main areas, life science and clinical diagnostics, and the addition of certain diagnostics businesses of Biotest AG to the Company's portfolio in the first quarter of 2010 that resulted in additional revenue in the first quarter of $12.7 million. Excluding the revenue from the Biotest acquisition, first-quarter revenues were up 10.1% or 4.9% on a currency neutral basis, compared to the same period last year.

Net income attributable to Bio-Rad for the first quarter of 2010 was $34.9 million, or $1.24 per share on a fully diluted basis compared to $1.10 per share, during the same period last year. First-quarter gross margin was 56.6% compared to 57.1% during the same quarter last year.

The clinical diagnostics segment reported net sales of $299.8 million for the first quarter, up 16.4% compared to the prior-year quarter. On a currency-neutral basis, net sales were up 10.5%. Excluding revenue from the Biotest acquisition, net sales were up 11.5%, or 5.8% on a currency-neutral basis, from the same period last year. These gains were largely due to growth across all product line most notably quality controls, blood typing, and diabetes monitoring. During the first quarter, Bio-Rad acquired certain diagnostics businesses from Biotest AG, including its diagnostics products in the areas of blood transfusion testing, transplantation, and infectious diseases. Also during the quarter, Bio-Rad announced the launch of an anti-CCP test for markets outside the U.S. The assay runs on Bio-Rad's BioPlex 2200 system and measures anti-CCP (anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies), a novel marker that has been shown to have superior specificity in the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis.