BioSource Sales Surge, Further Growth Seen

Jim Chamberlain, president, chief executive and chairman of BioSource International, is pleased with his company’s most recent earnings report. But the best, he said, may lie ahead.

The Camarillo company, a supplier of immunological reagents and test kits used in biomedical research, posted sales of $5.45 million for the three-month period ended March 31, a 116% increase over the $2.52 million for the same period in 1996. Net income over that period increased 66%, from $519,748 in 1996 to $862,155 for the first three months of this year.

“We had an exceptional quarter in the United States, and in Europe we didn’t lose any money,” Chamberlain said. “I’d like to think that’s because our marketing efforts have been stepped up, our sales force is being effective, plus the advent of new products that continually came out throughout the quarter.”

Among those new products was a line of test kits used in molecular diagnostics to measure the presence of certain genes in people with diseases. So far the kits, which were introduced in March, have been used exclusively for research, but Chamberlain expects them to pay dividends when used in doctors’ offices and other clinical settings.

“Sales for the kits started off fairly well, and we’ll see where they go from here,” Chamberlain said. “But we’re really banking on the ones for clinical research, for the clinical diagnostic market.”

Chamberlain said the first kits, to be used for people with infectious diseases, could be ready for sale by next week. Tests to be used for patients with cancer probably will be the second version available, Chamberlain said.