BioMerieux : Universal Registration Document 2020 including Annual Financial Report (PDF)

2020 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT

Including the annual financial report

CONTENTS

			GROUP PRESENTATION		2
			Message from Chairman & CEO		2
			A family commitment		4
			A global player in the field of in vitro diagnostics		5
			bioMérieux fights COVID-19		6
			The importance of diagnostics		8
			Solutions for healthcare professionals
			and industrial stakeholders		10
			Committed R&D teams		12
			A responsible and humanist company		14
			Our business model		16
			Our governance		18
			2020 key figures		20
1	PRESENTATION OF BIOMÉRIEUX
AND ITS ACTIVITIES	23
		1.1	History and development	24
		1.2	Organization of activities			26
		AFR
		1.3	Strategy					49
		AFR
		1.4	Quality systems and applicable regulations	51
		1.5	Research & development, patents
			and licenses			54
			AFR
		1.6	Property, plant and equipment	58

• RISK FACTORS, RISK MANAGEMENT

AND INTERNAL CONTROL			63
AFR
2.1	Risk assessment	64
2.2	Company Risk factors	65
2.3	Administrative, legal and arbitration
	procedures	81
2.4	Internal control and risk management	81
2.5	Insurance policy	85

CORPORATE SOCIAL
3 RESPONSIBILITY			87
AFR
3.1	Business model	90
3.2	Analysis of risks and opportunities	90

3.3 Improving public health around the world

	through our diagnostic solutions	94
3.4	Preserving the planet, our greatest resource	103

3.5 Interacting ethically with the health

ecosystem

113

3.6 Promoting the development and well-being

of our employees

120

3.7 Having a positive impact on communities

through long-term partnerships

130

3.8 Scope and reporting of non-financial

	indicators	136
3.9	Report by the independent third party
	on the consolidated statement of non-
	financial performance	139
3.10	Vigilance plan	142

GOVERNANCE AND EXECUTIVE
4 COMPENSATION																		147
AFR
4.1	Principles and framework for
	implementation of Corporate Governance	148
4.2	Administrative, management
	and supervisory bodies	149
4.3	Compensation of corporate officers	170
4.4	Main related-party transactions	187
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL
5 YEAR 2020	197
5.1	Operating and financial review	AFR						198
5.2	Capital resources	202
5.3	Significant change in financial
	or trading position																	202
	AFR
5.4	Capital expenditure													202
AFR
5.5	Overview and current trends
	and objectives																		203
	AFR
FINANCIAL
6 STATEMENTS																205
AFR
6.1	Consolidated financial statements	206
6.2	Parent company financial statements	273
SHARE CAPITAL
7 AND SHAREHOLDING	309
7.1	Shareholder dialogue	310
7.2	Main information about by laws						310
AFR
7.3	History of share capital	312
7.4	Description of shareholders						313
AFR
7.5	bioMérieux shares in 2020	319
7.6	Dividend policy										320
AFR
7.7	Special report on free share grants
	and stock options								320
	AFR
7.8	Other securities issued by the Company			323
AFR
7.9	Provisions delaying a change of control			323
AFR
7.10	Material contracts	323
ADDITIONAL
8 INFORMATION	325
8.1	General information on the Company	326
8.2	Persons responsible for the Universal
	Registration Document			326
	AFR
8.3	Responsible for auditing
	the financial statements	327
8.4	Documents available to the public	327
8.5	Provisional investor calendar 2021	327

APPENDICES	329
1. Concordance tables	330

2. Other initiatives and non-financial

	indicators monitored by the Company	339
3.	Glossaries	341

Elements of the Annual Financial Report are identified by the symbol AFRon the contents page.

2 0 2 0 U N I V E R S A L

R E G I S T R A T I O N

D O C U M E N T

INCLUDING THE ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT

The French language version of the Universal Registration Document was filed on March 17, 2021 with the AMF, as competent authority under Regulation (EU) 2017/1129, without prior approval pursuant to Article 9 of the said regulation. The Universal Registration Document may be used for the purposes of an offer to the public of securities or admission of securities to trading on a regulated market if completed by a securities note and, if applicable, a summary and any amendments to the Universal Registration Document. The whole is approved by the AMF in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/1129.

This Universal Registration Document, including the annual financial report, is a translation of the official version of the Universal Registration Document, including the annual financial report, which has been prepared in French, in format ESEF (European Single Electronic Format) and is available on the issuer's website.

"2020 HAS BEEN

AN EXTRAORDINARY YEAR IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE FOR ALL OF US."

Alexandre Mérieux

Chairman & CEO

For more than a year, the entire world has been at the mercy of incidence statistics for infections,

hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID-19. In light of this pandemic, actors in the healthcare sector have acutely felt their responsibility to citizens and patients around the world, prompting

a global movement of unprecedented scale and speed to promote innovation in diagnostics, treatment and vaccination.

Mobilizing in the face of COVID-19Faithful to its mission of improving public health via in vitro diagnostics, bioMérieux mobilized very quickly to take part in this international effort. Our teams have worked tirelessly, in a remarkable spirit of collaborative action, driven by the need to respond to the medical emergency. This exceptional mobilization at all levels of the company has enabled us to develop, market and manufacture diagnostic tests in record time. These tests form the basis of COVID-19public health strategies everywhere. Between March and

May 2020, we launched three complementary molecular biology tests in our ARGENE® and BIOFIRE® ranges to detect active SARS-CoV-2 infections, as well as two serological tests in our VIDAS® immunoassay range, to confirm the presence of antibodies in patients. We expanded this product range over the year. We have also stepped up production of our EMAG® and easyMAG® systems and the associated reagents for nucleic acid extraction,

a key step in molecular biology testing. In light of the boom in global demand, our teams have demonstrated exceptional resiliency and agility. This has made it possible to establish an unprecedented infrastructure to increase our capacity to provide equipment and reagents,

all the while ensuring maximum employee safety on-site: our absolute priority.

A collaboration between the healthcare providers

The pandemic has revealed the indispensable role of diagnostics in the healthcare system and the value it brings with regard to

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2020 Universal Registration Document

BIOMÉRIEUX

epidemiological screening, management and surveillance. It has accelerated fundamental trends in our sector. There is a need to react very quickly to emerging infectious diseases, to offer fast and reliable tests that can be performed as close as possible to patients and to design decision-support tools by making the best use of data. We will meet these challenges by continuing to invest in research and innovation to develop solutions that provide more and more information of high medical value and that meet the ever- greater expectations of clinical pathologists and physicians. And we must do so in a spirit of openness. The sudden emergence of SARS-CoV-2 has reminded the entire world of the interconnectedness of human health, animal health, the environment and the impact of human activities on it. Now more than ever, we need collaborations between the various actors in the healthcare sector: private companies, the public sector, research centers, our customers, biotech startups, etc.

Diagnostics are essential to medical decisions

Like the rest of the world, we dedicated a great deal of energy to address the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and we will continue our efforts in 2021. However, this crisis should not distract us from the many other infectious threats that also require close attention. Diagnostics have, and will continue to have, a key role in the continuum of care in this regard as well. Antimicrobial resistance, which many experts fear will worsen due to overuse of antibiotics during the pandemic, remains an essential focus of our strategy. The fight against sepsis, which affects 49 million people each year, more than 20% of whom do not survive, is also one of our top priorities. In the field of industrial biological control, we will continue to develop solutions to protect consumer health and safety, primarily in two key sectors: the pharmaceutical and agribusiness industries.

"IN LIGHT OF

THE BOOM IN GLOBAL DEMAND, OUR TEAMS HAVE DEMONSTRATED EXCEPTIONAL RESILIENCY AND AGILITY."

Support for the most vulnerable Since its founding more than 55 years ago, bioMérieux has made its growth part of a responsible and humanitarian approach to business. In addition to supporting the Fondation Mérieux and the Fondation Christophe et Rodolphe Mérieux, two independent family foundations dedicated to combating infectious diseases in developing countries, we have also decided to take action against the economic and social consequences of the COVID-19pandemic. In order to support projects around

the world to help the most vulnerable, we have reallocated half of our 2019 dividends to exceptional sponsorship activities in France and around the world. Similarly, we have created the bioMérieux Endowment Fund, which will also support initiatives in the solidarity economy and in education over several years.

Lastly, after an extensive consultation process, we have set an ambitious new course for ourselves regarding social, societal and environmental responsibility, which involves all the company's operations. This strategy, faithful to the values we have inherited, should allow us to intensify our positive developments to support public health, all the while respecting the environment, developing our employees' well-being and strengthening the links with our ecosystems and our stakeholders.

BIOMÉRIEUX

2020 Universal Registration Document

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