ABAX Abaxis, Inc. (delisted)

Henry Schein to Sell and Distribute the Piccolo Chemistry Analyzer and the Complete Line of Medical Reagent Rotors UNION CITY, Calif., June 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Abaxis, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABAX), a medical products company manufacturing point-of-care blood analysis systems, announced today that the Company has entered into a formal distribution agreement with Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC), the largest provider of healthcare products and services to office-based practitioners in the combined North American and European markets. Under the agreement, Henry Schein's Medical Group will sell and distribute the complete line of Abaxis' human reagent rotors and the Piccolo(R) chemistry analyzer within the U.S. medical market. Clint Severson, chairman and chief executive officer of Abaxis commented, "We are pleased to announce this formal distribution agreement with Henry Schein for the medical market distribution of our products. We are committed to continued expansion in the Point-of-Care clinical chemistry market with our leading-edge technology. In conjunction with Henry Schein's highly experienced and respected sales professionals, we believe both organizations will gain considerable leverage in achieving their respective corporate goals." Mr. Severson continued, "The addition of Henry Schein to our medical distribution group helps to validate the Abaxis Piccolo blood analysis system as a leading Point-of-Care analyzer within the medical community. This represents an opportunity to significantly drive consumable rotor sales within the medical community as each Piccolo instrument that is placed generates upwards of three times the number of rotors used in our veterinary applications. We believe that both parties to this transaction will be well-served." "Henry Schein is committed to providing its customers with the highest quality products and services available in the marketplace," said Stanley M. Bergman, chairman and chief executive officer of Henry Schein. "Our new agreement with Abaxis helps further enhance the value that we bring to our nearly 120,000 medical customers throughout the United States by offering a state-of-the-art blood analysis system." Chris Bernard, vice president of Sales and Marketing for Abaxis, commented, "We look forward to working closely with the medical sales professionals at Henry Schein to increase the penetration of the Piccolo blood analysis system and our consumable rotors in medical practices throughout the country. Both parties will commit considerable resources and expertise to execute our joint strategic plans to more fully develop the Point-of-Care testing market. With approximately 550 skilled sales professionals across the United States, Henry Schein's medical sales force will provide a significant supplement to our existing in-house marketing and sales group." 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, 6.9 kilogram (15 pounds), portable analyzer and a series of single-use plastic discs, called reagent discs that 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 14 minutes with the precision and accuracy equivalent to a clinical laboratory analyzer. 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"). 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", or "anticipates", and do not reflect historical facts. Specific forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties related to fluctuations in the Company's share price, the market acceptance of the Company's products and the continuing development of its products, required United States Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") 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 entering the human diagnostic market on a larger scale, risks related to the protection of the Company's intellectual property or claims of infringement of intellectual property asserted by third parties, risks involved in carrying of inventory, risks associated with the ability to attract, train and retain competent sales personnel, general market conditions, competition and other risks detailed from time to time in Abaxis' periodic reports filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statement was made. Abaxis does not undertake and specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Contact: Clint Severson Lytham Partners, LLC Chief Executive Officer Joe Dorame, Joe Diaz or Robert Blum Abaxis, Inc. 602-889-9700 510-675-6500 DATASOURCE: Abaxis, Inc. CONTACT: Clint Severson,Chief Executive Officer of Abaxis, Inc., +1-510-675-6500; or Joe Dorame, Joe Diaz or Robert Blum, all of Lytham Partners, LLC, +1-602-889-9700, for Abaxis, Inc.

Copyright