MFC Industrial(MIL)

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Johnny Hu

Andrew Lewis

Millipore Corporation (NYSE, S&P 500: MIL) provides products for bioscience research and biopharmaceutical manufacturing. The company assists pharmaceuticals with the drug production process by providing tools and expertise to optimize their manufacturing productivity, ensure the quality of their drugs, and increase production of drugs that are hard to manufacture. Millipore also helps scientists carry out their research by providing pre-made laboratory kits and filters and tests that can be used to separate substances for analysis and eliminte impurities. Millipore's largest customers include research departments at biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, research laboratories, universities and governmental institutions. The company employs approximately 5,800 employees in more than 47 offices worldwide.^[1]

Business Overview

Business & Financial Metrics^[2]

In 2009, MIL earned a net income of $179.2 million on $1.65 billion in total revenues. This represents a 28.6% increase in net income on a 3.2% increase in total revenue from 2008.

Business Segments^[3]

MIL has two operating segments, Bioprocess and Bioscience, which have been consolidated into a single reportable segment.

Trends & Forces

• Increased Research in Life Science - Due to rising public health concerns and an aging population in the United States and Internationally, there has been an increased emphasis on life science research.^[4] The largest area of expenditure for many countries is now health care, and that figure is only expected to increase in the coming years. Concerns about bioterrorism is also leading to more research funding for virus research, and the growth in clinical tests worldwide and improvements in clinical diagnostics technology is increasing the demand for consumable products such as the ones produced by Millipore.^[5]

• FDA Approval of Drugs - A high number of approvals for antibodies, vaccines, and other protein-based therapeutics have led to a higher increased demand for Millipore's Bioprocess solutions since these products are separation-intensive and complex to produce.^[6] Millipore also provides products that can be used in small-scale drug production and consumable products that enable the production of therapeutic drugs, and the increase in drug approvals has also led to more demand for these products.^[7] Its recent acquisition of Serologicals also positions the company well to gain better customer access and to further their customers' productivity.^[8]

• International Expansion into China and India - Millipore has continued its expansion into high growth Asian markets, especially China and India by increasing the number of sales representatives and distributors in Asia.^[9] The company has also opened a dedicated Chinese training facility function to help enter the market further.^[10] The increases in international sales in recent years were driven by increased orders from China and India.^[11]

• Research and Development - Due to the nature of the industry, Millipore must invest heavily in research and development. This present both opportunities and challenges to Millipore as the changing laboratory research markets require new techniques and products that it can provide.^[12] The purchase of Serologicals is intended to increase their product development capabilities and will help expand their product catalog.^[13]

Competition

Due to the wide array of products that they offer, Millipore has a large number of competitors ranging from large manufacturer offering a broad portfolio to specialized companies that operate in niche markets.^[14] For its Bioprocess Division, competitors include GE Healthcare, Pall (PLL), and Sartorius.^[15] For its Bioscience Division, competitors include Invitrogen (IVGN), Qiagen N.V. (QGEN), Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO), Sigma-Aldrich (SIAL), Techne (TECH), Bio-Rad Laboratories (BIO), Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX), Whatman, Pall (PLL), and Sartorius.^[16]

• Pall (PLL) - Pall Corporation is the largest filtration, separations, and purifications company in the world.^[17] Its products are used to remove pathogens from blood, water and food, purify biotech drugs, and clean water supplies.^[18] Its business is divided into a Life Sciences Division, which accounts for 23 percent of its sales, and an Industrial Division, which accounts for 77 percent of its sales.^[19] Thus, unlike Millipore, Pall does not focus exclusively on the life sciences industry, and indeed a majority of its sales comes from such industries as machinery and equipment, fuels and chemicals, and municipal water.^[20]
• Invitrogen (IVGN) - A global company with offices in over 70 countries, Invitrogen provides products and services to pharmaceuticals, biotechnology companies, and academic and government research institutions.^[21] Its catalog includes over 25,000 products ranging from protein identification to drug discovery and process development products.^[22] Thus, the company competes directly with Millipore's Bioprocess Division, but it does not produce the filtration products that Millipore is best known for. Invitrogen is also heavily reliant on NIH funding for its research.

• Qiagen N.V. (QGEN) - Qiagen is a leading provider of sample technologies used to isolate DNA, RNA, and proteins as well as assay technologies used to make specific target biomolecules for subsequent analysis.^[23] Their products are sold to academic research markets as well as pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and they have offices in over 30 locations worldwide.^[24] Like Millipore, Qiagen is trying to increase its foothold in the Asian market having set up their Asian headquarters in China and a subsidiary in Korea this past year.^[25] The focus of the company, however, is different from Millipore's as it provides tools to separate the components of a sample.

References

1. ↑ Millipore Quickfacts
2. ↑ MIL 2009 10-K pg. 37  
3. ↑ MIL 2009 10-K pg. 106  
4. ↑ 2006 Millipore Annual Report Page 56
5. ↑ 2006 Millipore Annual Report Page 56
6. ↑ 2006 Millipore Annual Report Page 56
7. ↑ 2006 Millipore Annual Report Page 56
8. ↑ 2006 Millipore Annual Report Page 56
9. ↑ 2006 Millipore Annual Report Page 23
10. ↑ 2006 Millipore Annual Report Page 23
11. ↑ 2006 Millipore Annual Report Page 59
12. ↑ 2006 Millipore Annual Report Page 34
13. ↑ 2006 Millipore Annual Report Page 34
14. ↑ 2006 Millipore Annual Report Page 36
15. ↑ 2006 Millipore Annual Report Page 36
16. ↑ 2006 Millipore Annual Report Page 36
17. ↑ Pall Company Profile
18. ↑ Pall Factsheet
19. ↑ Pall Corporate Brochure
20. ↑ Pall Corporate Brochure
21. ↑ Invitrogen Who We Are
22. ↑ Invitrogen Area of Focus
23. ↑ Qiagen What We Do
24. ↑ Qiagen What We Do
25. ↑ 2006 Qiagen Annual Report Pages 8 and 9