First-quarter sales came in at $250 million, a 12 per cent rise on the same period of 2004, while operating income rose by the same margin to $42.6m.

The company said its revenue growth was driven by sales of consumables and services for biotechnology process development and production in North America.

"Several of our key biotech accounts advanced the timing of orders to the first quarter, boosting our performance," said Martin Madaus, Millipore's chairman and chief executive. However, he warned that future quarters may experience fluctuations in this revenue stream, although "prospects in biotechnology remain promising, short-term and long-term."

Overall, biotechnology revenues rose 18 per cent to $83m in the quarter, while life sciences revenues were flat at $30m. Other bioscience revenues rose 7 per cent to $109m.

The Americas were Millipore's fastest-growing market, with sales up 16 per cent to $103m, catching up with Europe ($103m, +13 per cent) and head of the Asia/Pacific region ($44m, + 3 per cent).