Revenues at Thermo Fisher Scientific grew 2% for the first quarter (end-March 31), although the company's net income slipped.
For the period, Thermo Fisher posted revenues of $6.23 billion, compared to sales of $6.12 billion in the first quarter of 2019. The company's net income was $788 million for the most recent period, down from $815 million in the corresponding quarter of the year before.
Among highlights for the first quarter was Thermo Fisher's agreement to acquire Qiagen for $11.5 billion. The deal will expand the company's specialty diagnostics portfolio with new capabilities in molecular diagnostics, the company said.
The firm said it is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by developing the Applied Biosystems TaqPath COVID-19 Combo Kit, which has received regulatory authorizations in the U.S. and Europe. The company also introduced the Thermo Scientific AcroMetrix Coronavirus 2019 RNA Control to validate molecular diagnostics tests.
