Rewrites throughout, adds executive comments in paragraphs 3, 4 7 and 8, and analyst comments in paragraph 9

By Padmanabhan Ananthan

July 22 (Reuters) - Life sciences firm Danaher DHR.N raised its annual profit forecast on Tuesday, banking on steady demand for bioprocessing from its pharmaceutical clients and a recovery in China.

Danaher, which provides tools and technologies that help pharmaceutical companies develop and make drugs, said demand from the industry remains strong, with robust number of clinical trials and therapies under development.

CEO Rainer Blair said that patents expiring soon for several high-volume therapies is also driving demand. Danaher expects high single-digit long-term growth for its bioprocessing unit.

"Monoclonal antibodies, which comprise more than 75% of our bioprocessing revenues remain the largest investment area for our customers," Blair said.

Revenues in China, about 12% of total sales, remained pressured due to Chinese government policies such as volume-based procurement and reimbursement changes.

But the company said its China business, barring diagnostics, is improving, as government stimulus boosts pharma and biotech industries.

Danaher's current exposure to proposed tariffs stands at "a couple hundred million dollars," down from previous estimates, a company executive told analysts on a call.

Still, Danaher flagged that demand from academic and government sectors remained soft due to uncertainty around research funding , while clinical diagnostics and applied markets stayed stable.

Evercore analyst Vijay Kumar said Danaher has delivered a "steady print" of results, and that improving trends in China and a potential bioprocessing recovery in 2026 could boost growth.

The company now forecasts annual adjusted profit per share of $7.70 to $7.80, up from its previous projection of $7.60 to $7.75.

Danaher expects third-quarter revenue to rise at a low-single-digit rate from a year earlier.

Second-quarter sales came in at $5.94 billion, surpassing analysts' estimates of $5.84 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Separately, Danaher announced that Matthew Gugino will be succeeding long-time CFO Matthew McGrew, effective February 28, 2026.

(Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas and Sahal Muhammed)

((Padmanabhan.Ananthan@thomsonreuters.com;))