BIO-TECHNE Corp (TECH) Business
This page reproduces the company's own Item 1 Business text from the linked SEC filing. It is filer text, not grepcent analysis, scoring, or investment advice.
Informational only - not investment advice. See Disclaimer.
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
OVERVIEW
Bio-Techne and its subsidiaries, collectively doing business as Bio-Techne Corporation (Bio-Techne, we, our, us or the Company), develop, manufacture and sell life science reagents, instruments and services for the research, diagnostics and bioprocessing markets worldwide. Our broad product portfolio and application expertise enables scientific investigations into biological processes and molecular diagnostics, revealing the nature, diagnosis, etiology and progression of specific diseases. Our products aid in drug discovery efforts and provide the means for accurate clinical tests and diagnoses.
We manage the business in two operating segments – our Protein Sciences segment and our Diagnostics and Spatial Biology segment. Our Protein Sciences segment is a leading developer and manufacturer of high-quality biological reagents used in all aspects of life science research, diagnostics and cell and gene therapy. This segment also includes proteomic analytical tools, both manual and automated, that offer researchers and pharmaceutical manufacturers efficient and streamlined options for protein analysis, automated western blot, and multiplexed ELISA workflows. Our Diagnostics and Spatial Biology segment develops and manufactures diagnostic products, including controls, calibrators, and diagnostic assays for the regulated diagnostics market, exosome-based molecular diagnostic assays, advanced tissue-based in-situ hybridization assays and instrumentation for spatial genomic and tissue biopsy analysis, and genetic and oncology kits for research and clinical applications.
We are a Minnesota corporation with our global headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We were founded in 1976 as Research and Diagnostic Systems, Inc. We became a publicly traded company in 1985 through a merger with Techne Corporation, now Bio-Techne Corporation. Our common stock is listed on the NASDAQ under the symbol “TECH.” We operate globally, with offices in many locations throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Today, our product lines include hundreds of thousands of diverse products, most of which we manufacture ourselves in multiple locations in North America, as well as locations in the U.K., Canada, Switzerland and China.
We have implemented a disciplined strategy to accelerate growth in part by acquiring businesses and product portfolios that leveraged and diversified our existing product lines, filled portfolio gaps with differentiated high growth businesses, and expanded our geographic scope. Recent examples include the investment in Spear Bio at the beginning of fiscal 2025 and the acquisition of Lunaphore SA (“Lunaphore”) at the beginning of fiscal 2024. We also completed a 19.9% investment in Wilson Wolf Corporation (“Wilson Wolf”) in fiscal 2023, and will acquire the remaining ownership in Wilson Wolf by the end of calendar year 2027, if not earlier due to its achievement of revenue or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (“EBITDA”) targets. Recognizing the importance of an integrated, global approach to meeting our mission and accomplishing our strategies, we have maintained many of the brands of the companies we have acquired, but unified under a single global brand -- Bio-Techne.
We are committed to providing the life sciences community with innovative, high-quality scientific tools that allow our customers to make extraordinary discoveries and treat and diagnose diseases. We intend to build on Bio-Techne’s past accomplishments, high product quality reputation and sound financial position by executing strategies that position us to serve as the standard for biological content in the research market, and to leverage that leadership position to enter the diagnostics and other adjacent markets. Our strategic pillars include:
Grow & Leverage the Core. Through collaborations with key opinion leaders, participation in scientific discussions and societies, and leveraging our internal talent we expect to be able to convert our continued significant investment in our research and development activities to be first-to-market with quality products that are at the leading edge of life science researchers’ needs.
Capitalize on High Potential Markets. We will continue to leverage our strong balance sheet to gain access to new and differentiated technologies and products that improve our competitiveness in the current market, meet customers’ expanding workflow needs and allow us to enter adjacent markets.
Market Expansion Through Innovation & Acquisition. We will leverage our existing portfolio to expand our product offerings into novel research fields and further penetrate diagnostics and therapeutics markets.
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Acquisitions have, and will likely continue to play, an important role in our efforts to expand our portfolio of innovative tools and bioactive reagents, and support our initiatives to enter adjacent markets.
Deliver Best-in-Class Customer Experience. We will continue to expand our sales staff and distribution channels globally in order to increase our global presence and make it easier for customers to transact with us. We strive for every interaction to be seamless, personalized, and exceeding expectations. We aim to deeply understand customers’ wants and needs while simultaneously offering high-quality service at every touchpoint.
Develop People Through a Transofrmative Culture. As we continue to grow both organically and through acquisition, we are intentionally fostering an “EPIC” culture based on the ideals of Empowerment, Passion, Innovation and Collaboration. We strive to recruit, train and retain the most talented staff, who share these EPIC ideals to effectively implement our global strategies.
PROTEIN SCIENCES SEGMENT
Protein Sciences Segment Products and Markets
The Protein Sciences segment is the larger of our two segments, representing approximately 72% of our net sales in fiscal 2025. It is comprised of two divisions with complementary product offerings serving many of the same customers – the Reagent Solutions division and the Analytical Solutions division.
The Reagent Solutions division consists of specialized proteins, such as cytokines and growth factors, antibodies, small molecules, tissue culture sera and cell selection technologies traditionally used by researchers to further their life science experimental activities and by companies developing next generation diagnostics and therapeutics, including cell- and gene-based therapeutics. We believe we are the world leader in providing high quality proteins, both for research use and under current Good Manufacturing Practices, or cGMP. Key product brands include R&D Systems, Tocris Biosciences and Novus Biologicals. Our combined chemical and biological reagents portfolio provides high quality tools that customers can use in solving complex biological pathways and glean knowledge that may lead to a more complete understanding of biological processes, and, ultimately, to the development of novel therapeutic strategies to address different pathologies. In recent years, we have made several acquisitions and investments that have expanded our product offerings for the cell and gene therapy market. These include a significant investment in state-of-the art facilities for production of both proteins and small molecules in large quantities manufactured in accordance with cGMP, as well as a 19.9% investment in, and eventual acquisition of , Wilson Wolf, a leading provider of cell culture devices for cell-based therapies. Through a collaborative marketing venture with Wilson Wolf and another company, we have leveraged the products we have or are developing to provide a more complete offering for the cell and gene therapy market.
The Analytical Solutions division includes manual and automated protein analysis instruments and immunoassays that are used in quantifying proteins in a variety of biological fluids. Products in this division include traditional manual plate-based immunoassays, fully automated multiplex immunoassays on various instrument platforms, and automated western blotting and isoelectric focusing analysis of complex protein samples. Key product brands include R&D Systems and ProteinSimple. A number of our products have been demonstrated to have the potential to serve as predictive biomarkers and therapeutic targets for a variety of human diseases and conditions including cancer, autoimmunity, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, inflammation, neurological disorders, and kidney failure. Immunoassays can also be useful in clinical diagnostics. In fact, we have received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) marketing clearance for a few of our immunoassays for use as in vitro diagnostic devices.
Protein Sciences Segment Customers and Distribution Methods
Our customers for this segment include researchers in academia and industry (chiefly pharmaceutical and biotech companies as well as contract research organizations). This segment also sells to diagnostic/companion diagnostic and therapeutic customers, including those engaged in the development of cell- and gene-based therapies. Our biologics line of products in the Analytical Solutions division is used chiefly by production and quality control departments at biotech and pharmaceutical companies. We sell our products directly to customers who are primarily located in North America, Europe and China, as well as through a distribution agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific. We also sell through third
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party distributors in China, Japan, certain eastern European countries and the rest of the world. Our sales are widely distributed, and no single end-user customer accounted for more than 10% of the Protein Sciences segment’s net sales during fiscal 2025, 2024, or 2023.
DIAGNOSTICS AND SPATIAL BIOLOGY SEGMENT
The Diagnostics and Spatial Biology segment, representing approximately 28% of our net revenues in fiscal 2025, includes three divisions and is focused primarily on the diagnostic and research markets and includes spatial biology, liquid biopsy, molecular diagnostics kits and products, and diagnostics reagents.
Diagnostics and Spatial Biology Segment Products
The Spatial Biology division products sold under the Advanced Cell Diagnostics, or ACD, brand, are novel in-situ hybridization (ISH) assays for transcriptome, DNA copy, and structural variation analysis within intact cells, providing highly sensitive and specific spatial information at single cell resolution. Since these products preserve spatial context, they are particularly useful for complex tissue profiling. In the first quarter of fiscal 2024, we closed on the acquisition of Lunaphore, a leading developer of fully automated spatial biology solutions using precision microfluidic technology capable of revealing hyperplex proteomic and transcriptomic biomarkers in tumors and other tissues at single-cell and subcellular resolution. Lunaphore’s COMET instrument automates ACD’s RNAscope assays and utilizies antibodies to enable simultaneous hyperplex detection of protein and RNA biomarkers on the same slide at single-cell resolution.
The Molecular Diagnostics division markets and sells products and services under the Exosome Diagnostics and Asuragen brands. The Exosome Diagnostics brand is based on exosome-based liquid biopsy techniques that analyze genes or their transcripts. It includes the ExoDx Prostate test, which is a urine-based assay for early detection of high-grade prostate cancer used as an aid in deciding the need for biopsy in men with grey-zone prostate specific antigen (PSA) scores. ExoDX Prostate is offered by Exosome Diagnostics as a lab-developed test. We have also licensed exclusively the ExoTRU kidney transplant rejection test to Thermo Fisher Scientific. We also sell products for genetic carrier screening, oncology diagnostics, molecular controls, and research under the Asuragen brand.
The Diagnostic Reagents division consists of regulated products traditionally used as calibrators and controls in the clinical setting. Also included are instrument and process control products for hematology, blood chemistry, blood gases, coagulation controls and reagents used in various diagnostic applications. We often manufacture these reagents on a custom basis, tailored to a customer’s specific diagnostic assay technology. We supply these reagents in various formats including liquid, frozen, or in lyophilized form. Most of these products are sold on an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) basis to instrument manufacturers, with most products being FDA-cleared.
Diagnostics and Spatial Biology Segment Customers and Distribution Methods
The customers for the Spatial Biology division include researchers in academia as well as investigators in pharmaceutical and biotech companies. We sell our products directly to those customers who are primarily located in North America, Europe, and China, and through distributors elsewhere. In addition to being useful research tools, our DNA and RNA in situ hybridization (ISH) assays have diagnostics applications, and several are cleared or currently under review by the FDA in partnership with diagnostics instrument manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies.
In the United States, we offer the ExosomeDx Prostate test to physicians using our lab-developed non-invasive urine-based assay for prostate cancer detection. Our diagnostic laboratory is certified under and regulated by the State of Massachusetts pursuant to the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments, or CLIA. We reach our customers through physicians prescribing such tests for their patients. This test is also available in Europe as a CE-marked product. The Asuragen-branded products are sold primarily to laboratories for use in lab-developed tests or in kit form as regulated diagnostic tests.
The majority of Diagnostic Reagents Division’s sales are through OEM agreements, but we sell some of our diagnostic reagent products directly to customers and, in Europe and Asia, also through distributors.
No customer accounted for 10% or more of the reporting segment’s consolidated net sales during fiscal 2025, 2024 or 2023.
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MANUFACTURING AND MATERIALS
Our manufacturing operations use a wide variety of raw materials and components, including electronic components, chemicals and biological materials. No single supplier is material, although for some components that require particular specifications or regulatory or other qualifications there may be a single supplier or a limited number of suppliers that can readily provide such components. We utilize a number of techniques to address potential disruption in and other risks relating to our supply chain, which in certain cases includes the use of safety stock, alternative materials, and qualification of multiple supply sources.
The majority of our products are shipped within one day of receipt of the customers’ orders, other than our instruments and related cartridges, which are typically shipped within one to two weeks of receipt of an order. There was no significant backlog of orders for our products as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K or as of a comparable date. For additional discussion of risks relating to supply chain and manufacturing, refer to “Item 1A. Risk Factors.”
COMPETITION
Although our segments both generally operate in highly competitive markets, it is difficult to determine our competitive position, either in the aggregate or by segment, since none of our competitors offer all of the same product and service lines or serve all of the same markets as the Company, or any of its segments, does. Because of the range of the products and services we sell, we encounter a wide variety of competitors, including a number of large, global companies or divisions of such companies with substantial capabilities and resources, as well a number of smaller, niche competitors with specialized product offerings. We have seen increased competition in a number of our markets as a result of the entry of new companies into certain markets, the entry of competitors based in low-cost manufacturing locations, and increasing consolidation in particular markets. The number of competitors varies by product line. Key competitive factors vary among the Company’s businesses, but include the specific factors noted above with respect to each particular business and typically also include price, quality and safety, performance, delivery speed, application expertise, service and support, technology and innovation, distribution network, breadth of product, service and software offerings, and brand name recognition. We believe our competitive position is strong due to the unique aspects of many of our products and our product quality. For a discussion of risks related to competition, refer to “Item 1A. Risk Factors.”
SEASONALITY OF BUSINESS
Bio-Techne believes there is some seasonality as a result of vacation and academic schedules of its worldwide customer base, particularly for the Protein Sciences segment.
There is also some seasonality for the ExosomeDx Prostate test, as patients tend to avoid scheduling medical appointments during the summer and other holidays. A majority of Diagnostics Reagents division products are manufactured in large bulk lots and sold on a schedule set by the customer. Consequently, sales for that division can be unpredictable, and not necessarily based on seasonality. As a result, we can experience material and sometimes unpredictable fluctuations in our revenue from the Diagnostics and Spatial Biology segment.
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS
Although the Company transacts business with various government entities, no government contract is of such magnitude that renegotiation of profits or termination of the contract at the election of the government entity would have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial results. As a party to these contracts, Bio-Techne does have to comply with certain regulations that apply to companies doing business with governments. For a discussion of risks related to government contracting requirements, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors.”
NEW PRODUCTS AND RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
We believe that our future success depends, to a large extent, on our ability to keep pace with changing technologies and market needs. Bio-Techne is engaged in continuous research and development in all of our major product lines. We also carry out research to develop new products that build upon and expand the technologies we acquire through our acquisition strategy. In fiscal 2025, we introduced over 400 new products. While this is an area of focus for the Company, there is no
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assurance that any of the products in the research and development phases can be successfully completed or, if completed, can be successfully introduced into the marketplace.
HUMAN CAPITAL
Through its subsidiaries, Bio-Techne employed approximately 3,100 full-time and part-time employees as of June 30, 2025, of whom approximately 2,300 were employed in the United States and approximately 800 outside the United States. None of the United States employees are unionized. Outside the United States, the Company has government-mandated collective bargaining arrangements or work councils in certain countries.
Bio-Techne is committed to attracting, developing, engaging, and retaining the best people possible from around the world to sustain and grow our leadership position in life sciences tools and diagnostics. We strive to create an employee experience that allows each to achieve their full potential. This is demonstrated by our EPIC values of Empowerment, Passion, Innovation and Collaboration. We continuously build on our people-first culture, led by uncompromising integrity, hosting a place of belonging, granting access to innovation and respecting human rights around the globe.
Our people strategy spans multiple key dimensions, including the following:
Culture and Governance
Our four EPIC values of Empowerment, Passion, Innovation and Collaboration are the backbone for the way we approach the leadership and direction of our work force. Employees are empowered to realize their potential. Our culture supports and encourages a collaborative approach to working with each other and with our customers. We encourage innovation to continually improve our products, services and processes, and our passions for science and the missions of our customers are our guiding lights.
Our EPIC values are embedded in our culture and practices. To further amplify our desired behaviors, we have an annual employee recognition program in which we ask for nominations and recognize winning individuals and teams across our business who have best demonstrated our EPIC values.
Bio-Techne’s Board of Directors reviews management succession planning at least annually, and its Compensation Committee reviews the Company’s people strategy periodically in connection with significant initiatives and acquisitions, as well as part of its oversight of our executive and equity compensation programs. At the management level, our Chief Human Resources Officer, who reports directly to our President and CEO, is responsible for the development and execution of the Company’s people strategy.
Engagement and Belonging
Our engagement strategy focuses on developing the best workplace and best people leaders to meet our employees’ needs. We believe that strong employee engagement helps enable higher retention and better business performance. We assess our engagement performance through regular consultation with our managers. We also engage more formally via an annual engagement survey that assesses our employees’ overall experience. In 2025, two-thirds of our global workforce participated, and 75% of those who responded provided favorable feedback. While these responses were positive, our management used the responses to inform and shape our future employee-focused initiatives. These initiatives in the past have resulted in changes in programs and policies, including expansion of our management and leadership development programs, expansion of a parental leave program, introduction of flexible working, addition of an internal communications function, leadership engagement focused on transparency and stronger feedback follow-up, and expansion of the breadth and resources of our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). In fiscal 2025, we empowered work/life integration through hybrid work models wherever feasible, continued to cultivate belonging and inclusion, and paved the path for career growth through the personalized development and individual action plans.
We believe a culture of belonging is central to drive innovation, fuel growth and help ensure our technologies and products effectively serve a global customer base. The Company’s executive-sponsored Belonging initiative is focused on providing a welcoming working environment for all employees, continued education, broadening our candidate pools, and implementing and sustaining programs. Under the guidance of our executive-sponsored Employee Resource Group
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Council, ERGs offer mentorship, support and engagement to help our employees succeed and thrive. As of June 30, 2025, we had 11 ERGs operating globally.
As of June 30, 2025, 48% of our total employee population was female, and 43% of our managerial employees were female. 39% of our total employee population identified as nonwhite and 28% of our managerial employees identified as nonwhite.
Recruitment and Retention
Bio-Techne believes that sustaining its profitable growth will require a continued focus on recruiting and retaining top talent. We engage in a variety of recruiting strategies intended to locate and identify qualified candidates and create a talent pipeline. The Company offers competitive pay and benefits, from flexible work to financial planning resources to an employee stock purchase plan. In recent years, we bolstered our recruitment and retention efforts by expanding eligibility to receive stock options deeper into the organization and expanded our Long-Term Incentive program strategy to include a combination of stock options and restricted stock units. Bio-Techne continues to offer a referral bonus with the understanding that this is one of our most successful sourcing methods.
In addition to pay and benefits, Bio-Techne believes that the ability to retain employees requires an environment where they can work productively and where there are opportunities to grow and advance. The Company therefore seeks to cultivate a culture of empowerment and collaboration, where employees can observe the impact of their efforts, and where they see opportunities both laterally and vertically.
The last fiscal year continued to see considerable employee mobility across all industries, including the biotechnology industry, but we nonetheless significantly reduced our attrition rate to maintain durable stability across our enterprise. We believe that Bio-Techne’s sustained efforts on recruitment and retention will fortify our resilience in the face of increased employee mobility and economic challenges.
Talent Development and Learning and Development
Bio-Techne invests in people development in the belief that growing and promoting employees from within the Company creates a more sustainable organization. High potential employees are identified through our annual talent review process, as well as through leadership development programs designed to cultivate future leaders. Employees identified as high potential are elevated to the attention of senior management for consideration for additional development, growth opportunities, and career advancement.
Our global Learning and Development program delivers a wide range of initiatives including a validated suite of compliance training, and soft, technical, business, interpersonal and career skills. Bio-Techne also encourages and supports employees who wish to supplement their growth through external training and education. As a company that regularly acquires other businesses, we believe it is important for employees to be trained in the skills and mindsets that enable them to respond positively to change. This initiative allows individuals to deal with change more easily and reduces the need to run large scale change management programs.
Well-Being and Safety
The Company is committed to protecting the physical health, safety, and psychological well-being of our employees by providing a safe work environment and permitting hybrid work schedules wherever feasible. We actively monitor and adjust our crisis management plan and response protocol to protect our employees. Bio-Techne trains all employees on foundational safety principles and requires more rigorous safety and hazard awareness training where appropriate based on function, role, or team. At Bio-Techne, all employees are empowered and encouraged to maintain and create a safe workplace. In addition, we offer internal and external resources to provide for the psychological and emotional security of employees, including employee resource programs, mental health benefit coverage, and flexible work for many roles.
Community
The Company believes in giving back and in supporting the local communities in which we live and work. The Company and its employees donate financially and by giving their time and energy. Most sites or departments engage in local
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charitable causes and activities. In some of our sites, employees are encouraged to give through regular payroll deductions and through the annual campaign week where employee contributions are matched by the Company. In addition, United States employees receive a paid day off to participate in local opportunities to give back to the community as part of our volunteer time off benefit.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Our success depends in part upon our ability to protect our core technologies and intellectual property. To accomplish this, we rely on a combination of intellectual property rights, including patents, trade secrets and trademarks, as well as customary contractual protections in our terms and conditions and other sales-related documentation.
As of June 30, 2025, we had rights to approximately 1,340 granted patents and approximately 270 pending patent applications. Products in the Analytical Solutions and the Spatial Biology divisions are protected primarily through pending patent applications and issued patents. In addition, certain of our products are covered by licenses from third parties to supplement our own patent portfolio. Patent protection, if granted, generally has a life of 20 years from the date of the patent application or patent grant. We cannot provide assurance that any of our pending patent applications will result in the grant of a patent, whether the examination process will require us to narrow our claims, and whether our claims will provide adequate coverage of our competitors’ products or services.
In addition to pursuing patents on our products, we also preserve much of our innovation as trade secrets, particularly in the Reagent Solutions division of our Protein Sciences segment. Where appropriate, we use trademarks or registered trademarks in connection with our products. We have taken steps to protect our intellectual property and proprietary technology, in part by entering into confidentiality agreements and intellectual property assignment agreements with our employees, consultants, corporate partners and, when needed, our advisors. See the description of risks associated with the Company’s intellectual property in “Item 1A. Risk Factors.”
We can give no assurance that Bio-Techne’s products do not infringe upon patents or proprietary rights owned or claimed by others. Bio-Techne has not conducted a patent infringement study for each of its products. Where we have been contacted by patent holders with certain intellectual property rights, Bio-Techne typically has entered into licensing agreements with patent holders under which it has the exclusive and/or non-exclusive right to use patented technology as well as the right to manufacture and sell certain patented products to the research and/or diagnostics markets.
All trademarks, trade names, product names, graphics, and logos of Bio-Techne contained herein are trademarks and registered trademarks of Bio-Techne or its subsidiaries, as applicable, in the United States and/or other countries. Solely for convenience, we may refer to trademarks in this Annual Report on Form 10-K without the ™ or ® symbols. Such references are not intended to indicate that we will not assert our full rights to our trademarks.
LAWS AND REGULATIONS
Our operations, and some of the products we offer, are subject to a number of complex laws and regulations governing the production, marketing, handling, transportation, and distribution of our products and services. The following sections describe certain significant regulations pertinent to the Company. These are not the only laws and regulations applicable to the Company’s business. For a description of risks related to laws and regulations to which we are subject, refer to “Item 1A. Risk Factors.”
Medical Device Regulations
A number of our products are classified as medical devices and are subject to restrictions under domestic and foreign laws, rules, regulations, self-regulatory codes and orders, including but not limited to the U.S. Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (the “FDCA”). The FDCA requires these products, when sold in the United States, to be safe and effective for their intended uses and to comply with the regulations administered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”). The FDA regulates the design, development, testing, manufacture, advertising, labeling, packaging, marketing, distribution, import and export and record keeping for such products. Many medical device products are also regulated by comparable agencies in non-U.S. countries in which they are produced or sold.
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Any medical devices we manufacture and distribute are subject to pervasive and continuing regulation by the FDA and certain state and non-U.S. agencies. As a medical device manufacturer, our manufacturing facilities are subject to inspection on a routine basis by the FDA. We are required to adhere to the Current Good Manufacturing Practices (“cGMP”) requirements, as set forth in the Quality Systems Regulation (“QSR”), which require manufacturers, including third-party manufacturers, to follow stringent design, testing, control, documentation and other quality assurance procedures during all phases of the design and manufacturing process.
We must also comply with post-market surveillance regulations, including medical device reporting (“MDR”), requirements which require that we review and report to the FDA any incident in which our products may have caused or contributed to a death or serious injury. We must also report any incident in which our product has malfunctioned if that malfunction would likely cause or contribute to a death or serious injury it if were to recur.
Labeling and promotional activities are subject to scrutiny by the FDA and, in certain circumstances, by the Federal Trade Commission. Medical devices approved or cleared by the FDA may not be promoted for unapproved or uncleared uses, otherwise known as “off-label” promotion. The FDA and other agencies actively enforce the laws and regulations prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses.
In the European Union (“EU”), our products are subject to the medical device laws of the various member states, which are currently based on a Directive of the European Commission. Additionally, the EU has adopted the In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation (the “EU IVDR”), which imposes stricter requirements for the marketing and sale of in vitro diagnostic medical devices, including in the area of clinical evaluation requirements, quality systems and post-market surveillance. Manufacturers of in vitro diagnostics medical devices that have been marketed and sold under the prior regulatory regime now have to comply with some of the new EU IVDR requirements, while the effective date of other requirements have been delayed. Complying with EU IVDR may require material modifications to our quality management systems, additional resources in certain functions, updates to technical files and additional clinical data in some cases, among other changes.
One of our products under our Exosome Diagnostics brand is offered as a test by a certified laboratory under CLIA. Our Asuragen business also maintains a CLIA certification. Consequently, we must comply with state licensing regulations applicable to laboratories regulated under CLIA, governing laboratory practices and procedures.
Other Healthcare Laws
Some of the products and services we sell, predominantly in our Diagnostics and Spatial Biology segment, are subject to various health care related laws regulating fraud and abuse, research and development, pricing and sales and marketing practices, and the privacy and security of health information, including, among others:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | U.S. federal regulations regarding quality and cost by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”), as well as comparable state and non-U.S. agencies responsible for reimbursement and regulation of healthcare goods and services, including laws and regulations related to kickbacks, false claims, self-referrals and healthcare fraud. |
●U.S. Federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits persons from knowingly and willfully soliciting, offering, receiving or providing remuneration (including any kickback or bribe), directly or indirectly, in exchange for or to induce either the referral of an individual, or the furnishing or arranging for a good or service, for which payment may be made in whole or in part under a federal health care program, such as Medicare or Medicaid.
●Comparable laws and regulations similar to, and in some cases more stringent than, the U.S. federal regulations discussed above and below, including the UK Bribery Act and similar anti-bribery laws.
●The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), which prohibits knowingly and willfully (1) executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any health care benefit program, including private payors, or (2) falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement in connection with the delivery of or payment for health care benefits, items or services. In addition, HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009, also restricts the use and disclosure of patient identifiable health information,
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mandates the adoption of standards relating to the privacy and security of patient identifiable health information and requires the reporting of certain security breaches with respect to such information.
●The False Claims Act, which imposes liability on any person or entity that, among other things, knowingly presents, or causes to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for payment by a federal health care program, knowingly makes, uses or causes to be made or used, a false record or statement material to a false or fraudulent claim, or knowingly makes a false statement to avoid, decrease or conceal an obligation to pay money to the U.S. federal government.
●The Open Payments Act requires manufacturers of medical devices covered under Medicare to, in certain circumstances, record payments and other transfers of value to a broad range of healthcare providers and teaching hospitals and to report this data as well as ownership and investment interests held by the physicians described above and their immediate family members to HHS for subsequent public disclosure, as well as similar reporting requirements in some states and in other countries.
For a discussion of risks related to regulation by the FDA and comparable agencies of other countries, and the other regulatory regimes referenced above, please refer to section entitled “Item 1A. Risk Factors.”
Data Privacy and Security Laws
As a global organization, we are subject to data privacy and security laws, regulations, and customer-imposed controls in numerous jurisdictions as a result of having access to and processing confidential, personal and/or sensitive data in the course of our business. In addition to the U.S. HIPAA privacy and security rules mentioned above, which impact some parts of our business, individual states also regulate data breach and security requirements, and multiple governmental bodies assert authority over aspects of the protection of personal privacy. In particular, a broad privacy law in California, the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), came into effect in January 2020. The CCPA has some of the same features as the GDPR (discussed below) and has already prompted several other states to follow with similar laws. The EU General Data Protection Regulation that became effective in May 2018 (“GDPR”) has imposed significantly stricter requirements in how we collect, transmit, process, and retain personal data, including, among other things, in certain circumstances a requirement for almost immediate notice of data breaches to supervisory authorities and prompt notice to data subjects with significant fines for non-compliance. Several other countries in which we do business have passed, and other countries are considering passing, laws that require personal data relating to their citizens to be maintained on local servers and impose additional data transfer restrictions. For a discussion of risks related to improper disclosure of private information particularly as a result of cyber security incidents, please refer to section entitled “Item 1A. Risk Factors.”
Environmental Health and Safety Laws
We are also subject to various environmental health and safety laws and regulations both within and outside the U.S. Like other companies in our industry, our manufacturing and research activities involve the use and transportation of substances regulated under environmental health and safety laws including those relating to the transportation of hazardous materials.
Other Laws and Regulations Governing Our Sales, Marketing and Shipping Activities
We are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and various other similar anti-corruption and anti-bribery acts, which are particularly relevant to our operations in countries where the customers are government entities or are controlled by government officials. Both directly and indirectly through our distributors, we must comply with such laws when interacting with those entities.
As Bio-Techne’s businesses also include export and import activities, we are subject to pertinent laws enforced by the U.S. Departments of Commerce, State and Treasury. Other nations’ governments have implemented similar export/import control and economic sanction regulations, which may affect the Company’s operations or transactions subject to their jurisdictions.
In addition, under U.S. laws and regulations, U.S. companies and their subsidiaries and affiliates outside the United States are prohibited from participating or agreeing to participate in unsanctioned foreign boycotts in connection with certain business activities, including the sale, purchase, transfer, shipping or financing of goods or services within the United States or between the United States and countries outside of the United States. If we, or certain third parties through which we sell or provide goods or services, violate anti-boycott laws and regulations, we may be subject to civil or criminal enforcement action and varying degrees of liability.
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We are subject to laws and regulations governing government contracts, and failure to address these laws and regulations or comply with government contracts could cause a reduction in revenue associated with these customers. We have agreements relating to the sale of our products to government entities and, as a result, we are subject to various statutes and regulations that apply to companies doing business with the government. We are also subject to investigation for compliance with the regulations governing government contracts. A failure to comply with these regulations could result in suspension of these contracts, criminal, civil and administrative penalties or debarment.
For a discussion of risks related to the above-referenced regulations, particularly with respect to our international operations, please refer to section entitled “Item 1A. Risk Factors.”
INVESTOR INFORMATION
We are subject to the information requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act). Therefore, we file periodic reports, proxy statements, and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC maintains an internet site (http://www.sec.gov) that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically.
Financial and other information about us is available on our web site (https://investors.bio-techne.com/). We make available on our web site copies of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after filing such material electronically or otherwise furnishing it to the SEC.
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE REGISTRANT
As of the date of this Annual Report, the names, ages, positions and periods of service of each executive officer of the Company are as follows:
| | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Age | Position | Officer Since | |||
| | | | | | | |
| Kim Kelderman | 58 | President, Chief Executive Officer and Director | 2018 | |||
| James Hippel | 54 | Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer | 2014 | |||
| William Geist | 56 | President, Protein Sciences | 2022 | |||
| Matthew McManus | | 56 | President, Diagnostics and Spatial Biology | 2024 | ||
| Shane Bohnen | 50 | Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Corp. Secretary | 2023 |
Set forth below is information regarding the business experience of each executive officer. There are no family relationships among any of the officers named, nor is there any arrangement or understanding pursuant to which any person was selected as an officer.
Kim Kelderman was promoted to President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company on February 1, 2024 and has been an executive officer of the Company since joining the Company in 2018. Prior to joining the Company, he served as an executive at Thermo Fisher Scientific and as a Senior Segment Leader at Becton Dickinson.
James Hippel has been Chief Financial Officer of the Company since April 1, 2014. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Hippel served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Mirion Technologies, Inc and as Vice President, Finance at Thermo Fisher Scientific, and in financial roles at Honeywell International. Mr. Hippel started his career with KPMG LLP.
Matthew McManus joined Bio-Techne on January 8, 2024 as President, Diagnostics and Spatial Biology. Prior to Bio-Techne, Mr. McManus most recently served as Chief Operating Officer for Azenta Life Sciences and served as Chief Executive Officer of Asuragen prior to the Bio-Techne acquisition.
William Geist has been President of the Protein Sciences segment since January 3, 2022. Prior to Bio-Techne, Mr. Geist most recently served as Chief Operating Officer for Quanterix, and before that in senior management roles at Thermo Fisher Scientific and QuantaBiosciences, a QIAGEN company.
Shane Bohnen was promoted to General Counsel and Corporate Secretary on March 3, 2023, and has been an attorney on the Company’s legal team since July 2019. Prior to joining Bio-Techne, Mr. Bohnen spent 10 years in private practice as a life sciences litigator, followed by seven years as in-house corporate counsel with an expansive breadth of responsibility and global scope.