Abaxis, Inc. Launches Two New Rapid Diagnostic Tests in Veterinary Market

UNION CITY, Calif., June 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Abaxis, Inc. (NasdaqGS: ABAX), a medical products company manufacturing point-of-care blood analysis systems, today announced the Company's Animal Health group has added two new rapid diagnostic tests, the VetScan Canine Parvovirus Rapid Test and the VetScan Giardia Rapid Test. The VetScan Canine Parvovirus Rapid Test was launched in March 2011 and the VetScan Giardia Rapid Test began selling in May 2011 and both rapid tests have been well received by the veterinary community. The Parvo and Giardia rapid tests are the latest addition to the VetScan rapid diagnostic test product line that already includes the successful Canine Heartworm Rapid Test, which was launched in January of 2009.

Canine Parvovirus is a highly contagious and potentially life threatening disease that usually attacks the gastrointestinal tract causing vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration. Canine Parvovirus is most common in puppies 6-20 weeks old. Giardiasis is also a gastrointestinal infection caused by the protozoan parasite Giardia. Symptoms of Giardia infection include diarrhea and weight loss and infection is also more common in younger pets.

Michael Solomon, director of business development for Abaxis Animal Health commented, "The launch of these two new products demonstrates Abaxis' commitment to the veterinary market. The Company will continue to add high quality and cost-effective diagnostic tests to its product portfolio in order to best serve the veterinarians, their clients and their patients."

Martin Mulroy, vice president of sales and marketing for Abaxis Animal Health commented, "The addition of these two rapid tests strengthens Abaxis' overall presence in the marketplace by providing the veterinarian with more in-house testing options from a trusted partner. The VetScan Parvo and Giardia rapid tests are just two more additions to the continually growing VetScan family of products. We will continue to provide animal health providers innovative, reliable, and low-cost solutions to enhance their practices."

About Abaxis

Abaxis develops, manufactures and markets portable blood analysis systems for use in any veterinary or human patient-care setting to provide clinicians with rapid blood constituent measurements. The system consists of a compact, 5.1 kilogram (11.2 pounds), portable analyzer and a series of single-use plastic discs, called reagent discs or rotors, which contain all the chemicals required to perform a panel of up to 13 tests on veterinary patients and 14 tests on human patients. The system can be operated with minimal training and performs multiple routine tests on whole blood, serum or plasma samples. The system provides test results in less than 12 minutes with the precision and accuracy equivalent to a clinical laboratory analyzer. The veterinary business also provides to the animal health and research market a line of hematology instruments for point of care complete blood counts (CBC), a specialty instrument to screen for and detect clotting disorders and to measure equine fibrinogen levels, a handheld instrument for the rapid assessment of certain critical care tests and a rapid point of care test for Heartworm infections in dogs.

This press release includes, statements that constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Reform Act"), including but not limited to statements related to Abaxis' cash position, financial resources and potential for future growth, market acceptance and penetration of new or planned product offerings, and future recurring revenues and results of operations. Abaxis claims the protection of the safe-harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Reform Act. These forward-looking statements are often characterized by the terms "may," "believes," "projects," "expects," "anticipates," or words of similar import, and do not reflect historical facts. Specific forward-looking statements contained in this press release may be affected by risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those related to losses or system failures with respect to Abaxis' facilities or manufacturing operations, fluctuations in quarterly operating results, dependence on sole suppliers, the market acceptance of Abaxis' products and the continuing development of its products, required United States Food and Drug Administration clearance and other government approvals, risks associated with manufacturing and distributing its products on a commercial scale free of defects, risks related to the introduction of new instruments manufactured by third parties, risks associated with competing in the human diagnostic market, risks related to the protection of Abaxis' intellectual property or claims of infringement of intellectual property asserted by third parties, risks related to condition of the United States economy and other risks detailed under "Risk Factors" in Abaxis' Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2010 and Abaxis' other periodic reports filed from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statements were made. Abaxis does not undertake and specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Abaxis, Inc.