Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc. to Acquire Binax, Inc.

Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc., a leading manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional diagnostics products, and developer of advanced medical devices, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Binax, Inc., a privately held company located in Portland, Maine.

Binax is a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of rapid diagnostic products for infectious disease testing, primarily related to the respiratory system. Binax is a profitable company with sales in 2004 of approximately $20 million. Under the terms of the agreement, Inverness will acquire all of the stock of Binax in exchange for 1,433,333 shares of its common stock and additional consideration of $8,600,000 in cash at the closing of the acquisition. Inverness has agreed to register the shares issuable in the transaction prior to the closing. The agreement also provides for additional consideration to the Binax shareholders of up to $11,000,000 in cash contingent upon Binax meeting certain new product development performance objectives over five years.

Ron Zwanziger, CEO of Inverness Medical Innovations, commenting about the acquisition said, "The addition of Binax is a continuation of our strategic efforts focused on expanding our proprietary technology base and product offerings. We expect to benefit from Binax's established reputation in respiratory diagnostics, and we are excited about the potential new product development opportunities."