Various remarks that we may make about the company's future expectations, plans, and prospects constitute premium statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Security Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Starting with the quarter, our revenue was $10.7 billion.
Adjusted operating income was $3.16 billion and our adjusted operating margin was 29.5%.
Adjusted earnings per share was $6.54 per share.
Turning to our results for the full year, we grew revenue by 22% to $39.21 billion in 2021.
Adjusted operating income increased 27% to $12.14 billion.
We expanded our adjusted operating margin by 130 basis points to 31%, and we delivered a 28% increase in adjusted earnings per share to $25.13 per share.
Let me now give you color on the results for the quarter and the year, starting with pharma and biotech, with the outstanding performance delivered growth over 20% in the fourth quarter and over 25% for the full year.
Finally, in diagnostics and healthcare, Q4 revenue was 30% lower than the prior-year quarter, and revenue grew in the high single digits for the full year.
In the quarter, we generated $2.45 billion in COVID 19 response-related revenue.
Throughout 2021, we continue to operate with speed at scale to meet our customers' needs related to COVID-19 and generated total response revenue of over $9 billion, of which $2 billion were from vaccines and therapies.
Available in sizes up to 5,000 liters, this latest advancement in our DynaDrive single-use bioreactor technology brings the benefits of single-use technologies to unprecedented volumes and performance and ensures consistent scalability from pilot-scale studies through commercial production.
And in genetic sciences, our new Applied Biosystems' QuantStudio 7 Pro Dx real-time PCR system, launched in Q4, enables clinical testing laboratories to accelerate molecular diagnostics.
In 2021, we invested $2.5 billion in capital to meet short and long-term customer demand.
In 2021, we were very active, investing $24 billion in M&A and completing 10 transactions to further strengthen our customer value proposition.
We're well-positioned to deliver year three cost synergies of $75 million and $50 million in operating income from revenue synergies, and we're on track to deliver $40 million in cost synergies in 2022.
In 2021, we also returned $2.4 billion of capital to our shareholders through stock buybacks and dividends.
Highlights this year include our commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
This builds on our earlier goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% across our operations by 2030.
Our foundation for science, which more than 100,000 students globally to our STEM education programs.
We're raising our 2022 full-year revenue guidance by $1.5 billion to $42 billion, which would result in 7% revenue growth over 2021.
And we're increasing our 2022 adjusted earnings per share guidance by $1.07 to $22.43 per share.
Our proven growth strategy positions us to deliver long-term core organic revenue growth of 7% to 9%.
For the full year 2021, we delivered 17% organic growth that included 14% organic base business growth and $9.2 billion in COVID 19 response revenue.
We delivered 28% growth in adjusted earnings per share in 2021 and over $7 billion of free cash flow.
We delivered $2.1 billion more revenue than included in our prior guide.
This included $1.5 billion higher COVID 19 response revenue, $375 million of revenue from the PPD acquisition, and $200 million higher based business revenue.
Then in terms of the base business, in Q4, we delivered 8% base business organic growth, which was 3% points higher than assumed in the prior guide.
We delivered $6.54 of adjusted earnings per share in the quarter and $25.13 for the full year.
This is $1.76 ahead of our prior guide to a broad base beat to round out an outstanding year.
And as I mentioned, we delivered $6.54 of adjusted earnings per share in the quarter.
And for the full-year adjusted earnings per share was $25.13, up 28% compared to last year.
GAAP earnings per share in the quarter was $4.17.
And for the full year, 2021 GAAP earnings per share was $19.46, up 22% versus the prior year.
On the top line, our Q4 reported revenue grew 1% year over year.
The components of our Q4 revenue increase included a 4% organic revenue decrease, a 6% contribution from acquisitions, and a headwind of 1% from foreign exchange.
And as I mentioned, the base business organic revenue growth in the quarter was 8%.
For the full year, 2021 reported revenue increased 22%.
This includes 17% organic growth, a 3% contribution from acquisitions, and a 2% tailwind from foreign exchange.
The full-year base business organic growth was 14%.
And in 2021, we delivered $9.23 billion of COVID-19 response revenue, which includes $2 billion of vaccines and therapy support revenue.
Europe grew over 25%.
Asia-Pacific grew over 20%, including just under 20% growth in China and the rest of the world grew mid-teens.
Tend to our operational performance, Q4 adjusted operating income decreased 10% and the adjusted operating margin was 29.5%, 380 basis points lower than Q4 last year.
For the full year, adjusted operating income increased 27% and adjusted operating margin was 31%, which is 130 basis points higher than 2020.
Total company adjusted gross margin in the quarter came in at 50.5%, 340 basis points lower than Q4 last year.
And for the full year, the adjusted gross margin was 51.6%, up 40 basis points versus the prior year.
Adjusted SG&A in Q4, with 17.3% of revenue for the full year adjusted SG&A was 17.1% of revenue.
An improvement of 80 basis points compared to 2020.
Total R&D expense was approximately $390 million in Q4 and for the full-year R&D expenses $1.4 billion, representing growth of 19% over the prior year, reflecting our ongoing investments in high impact innovation to fuel future growth.
Looking at results below the line for the quarter and net interest expense was $150 million, $16 million higher than Q4 last year, largely due to the PPD financing activities.
Net interest expense for the full year was $493 million, an increase of $5 million from 2020.
Adjusted other income and expense was a net income in the quarter of $7 million, $8 million higher than Q4 2020, mainly due to changes in non-operating FX.
For the full-year adjusted other income and expense was a net income of $38 million, which was $8 million lower than the prior year.
Our adjusted tax rate in the quarter was 13.8%.
This is 220 basis points lower than Q4 last year, mainly due to the different levels of pre-tax profitability year over year.
For the full year, the adjusted tax rate was 14.6%, or 30 basis points higher than 2020.
Average diluted shares were 398 million in Q4, approximately two million lower year over year, driven by share repurchases, net of option dilution and for the full year, the average Dillard's shares were 397 million.
Cash flow from operating activities in 2021 was $9.5 billion, up 15% over the prior year, and free cash flow for the year was $7 billion after investing %2.5 billion of net capital expenditure.
During the year, we returned approximately $2.4 billion of capital to shareholders through stock buybacks and dividends, and we ended Q4 with $4.5 billion in cash.
Our total debt at the end of Q4 was $34.9 billion, up $13.2 billion sequentially from Q3, largely as a result of the financing activities related to the PPD acquisition.
Our leverage ratio at the end of the quarter with 2.7 times gross debt to adjusted EBITDA and 2.3 times on a net debt basis, and concluding my comments that total company performance adjusted ROIC was 19.8%, up 180 basis points from Q4 last year as we continue to generate exceptional returns.
Q4 reported revenue in the segment decreased 5% and organic revenue was 8% lower than the prior-year quarter.
For the full year, reported revenue in the segment increased 28% and organic revenue increased 23%.
Q4 adjusted operating income in Life Science Solutions decreased 14%.
And adjusted operating margin was 48.2%, down 490 basis points year-over-year.
And for the full year, adjusted operating income increased 28%, and adjusted operating margin was 50%, a decrease of 20 basis points versus 2020.
In the analytical instrument segment, reported revenue increased 5% in Q4 and organic growth by 6%.
For the full-year reported revenue in the segment increased 18% and organic revenue increased 17%.
Q4 adjusted operating income in the segment increased 15%, and adjusted operating margin was 22.1%, up 190 basis points year over year.
For the full year, adjusted operating income increased 48%, and adjusted operating margin was 19.7%, an increase of 390 basis points versus 2020.
In Q4, reported revenue and organic revenue were both 26% lower than the year-ago quarter.
For the full year, reported revenue in this segment increased 6% and organic revenue increased 5%.
Q4 adjusted operating income decreased 43% in the quarter and adjusted operating margin was 20.5%, down 590 basis points from the prior year.
For the full year, adjusted operating income decreased 6% and adjusted operating margin was 22.6%, a decrease of 300 basis points versus 2020.
In Q4, reported revenue in this segment increased 16% and organic revenue growth was 5%.
And we recognized $375 million of revenue for PPG to clinical research business.
For the full year, reported revenue in this segment increased 21% and organic revenue increased 15%.
Q4 adjusted operating income in the segment increased 42% and adjusted operating margin was 11.5%, which is 210 basis points higher than the prior year.
For the full year, adjusted operating income increased 45%, and adjusted operating margin was 12.4%, an increase of 200 basis points versus 2020.
We're raising our full-year '22 revenue guidance by $1.5 billion to $42 billion.
And we're raising our adjusted earnings per share guidance by $1.07 to $22.43.
This very strong raise reflects the excellent strength of the business, and we continue to expect 8% core organic revenue growth in 2022.
Let me now provide you with additional details on the updated guidance, starting with revenue whether four elements drive the $1.5 billion raise.
$1 billion increase in the COVID 19 testing assumption, a $900 million increase for the core business, a $500 million decrease due to the change in FX rates, and a $100 million increase to reflect the PeproTech acquisition, which closed just before the year-end.
Guidance now assumes $1.75 billion in testing revenue in 2022.
In terms of the core revenue raise, $600 million relates to PPD and reflects the excellent strength of that business and to a lesser extent, the recent gap changes around deferred revenue measurement for acquisitions.
We now expect PPD, a new clinical research business, to deliver $6.5 billion in revenue for the full year of 2022.
This represents 8% organic growth on a full-year basis on top of the 30% growth it delivered in 2021.
And the remaining $300 million of the core revenue raise is to reflect the strong finish to 2021 by the rest of the core business.
As I mentioned earlier, we continue to expect that it will grow 8% organically in 2022.
And we now expect the adjusted operating margin to be 25.4% in 2022 as 20 basis points higher than what we assumed in our prior guidance.
In terms of adjusted EPS, a stronger business outlook is enabling us to raise 2022 adjusted earnings per share guidance from $21.36 to $22.43, further building on an already very strong outlook for the year.
As I mentioned PPD is expected to deliver $6.5 billion of revenue and $1 billion of adjusted operating income in 2022.
This acquisition is now expected to contribute $1.90 to adjusted earnings per share in the year.
PeproTech is expected to deliver revenue of just over $100 million in 2022 and $0.5 of adjusted EPS.
FX is now expected to be a year-over-year headwind of $500 million in revenue of 1.3% and $0.31 from adjusted EPS.
We continue to assume an adjusted income tax rate of 13% in 2022.
We now expect the full-year net interest cost to be approximately $490 million and other income to be $10 million.
We continue to assume net capital expenditures of approximately 2.5 to $2.7 billion and free cash flow of approximately $7 billion.
Our guidance still assumes $2.5 billion of capital deployment, which is $2 billion a share, buybacks that we already completed in January, and $475 million of capital return to shareholders through dividends.
We now estimate that the full-year average diluted share count will be between 395 million and 396 million shares.
The de-risk assumption for COVID 19 testing used in this guidance assumes that this revenue is very front end loaded in the first half of the year, and then it's an assumed pandemic run-rate level of $100 million of revenue per quarter in the second half of the year.

Summary:
Starting with the quarter, our revenue was $10.7 billion.
Adjusted earnings per share was $6.54 per share.
We delivered $6.54 of adjusted earnings per share in the quarter and $25.13 for the full year.
And as I mentioned, we delivered $6.54 of adjusted earnings per share in the quarter.
GAAP earnings per share in the quarter was $4.17.