ABAXIS appoints new board member.

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(HealthWire)--Dec. 8, 1994--ABAXIS Inc. (NASDAQ/NMS:ABAX) Thursday announced it has appointed Morton A. Cohen to its board of directors, expanding its board to seven members.

Cohen, 59, has more than 10 years of experience in venture capital and more than 20 years of experience in the public securities industry, both as a securities analyst and a mergers and acquisitions consultant.

Since 1982, Cohen has served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of Clarion Capital Corp., Cleveland, which specializes in private placements for public companies, private venture-backed companies, management turnarounds and leveraged buyouts. While at Clarion Capital, he has been an investor in more than 50 emerging businesses. Previously, Cohen operated a Canadian-based mergers and acquisitions consulting practice.

"We are extremely pleased that Morton has elected to join our board," said Gary Stroy, president and chief executive officer of ABAXIS. "He brings to our company a wealth of experience in the securities industry and in the management of several public companies, which will help guide ABAXIS as we focus our efforts on manufacturing and marketing."

During his 25-year career in the securities business, both in Canada and the United States, Cohen was often elected to the institutional all-star team and was the leading securities analyst in a variety of industries.

Cohen has served as governor of the Montreal Stock Exchange, is a Chartered Financial Analyst and is a member of the recently formed SBA-sponsored National Investment Advisory Council. He also is a director of several privately held and public companies, including Alexander Energy Corp., Monitek Technologies, Small's Oilfield Services Corp. and Zemex Corp.

In the medical equipment industry, Cohen was a director of ADAC Laboratories. Cohen earned his bachelor of arts degree in economics from Concordia University and his master of business administration in 1959 from the Wharton School.

Founded in 1989, ABAXIS develops, manufactures and markets portable blood analysis systems for use in any patient-care setting to provide clinicians with rapid blood constituent measurements. The systems consists of a compact, 6.5-kilogram, portable analyzer and a series of 8cm-diameter single-use plastic disks, called reagent rotors, that contain all the reagents necessary to perform a fixed menu of tests.

The systems can be operated with minimal training and perform multiple routine tests on whole blood using either venous or fingerstick samples. The systems provide test results in less than 15 minutes with the precision and accuracy equivalent to a clinical laboratory.

The company currently markets the system to veterinarians under the name VetScan and is continuing to develop this system for introduction into the human market under the name Piccolo.

CONTACT: ABAXIS Inc., Sunnyvale

              Gary H. Stroy, 408/745-6854
                 or
              Pondel Parsons & Wilkinson, Los Angeles
              Rob Whetstone, 310/207-9300