ABAXIS reports fiscal second-quarter financial results.

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(HealthWire)--Oct. 26, 1995--ABAXIS Inc. (NASDAQ/NM:ABAX), a medical-products company, Thursday reported operating results for its second fiscal quarter ended Sept. 30, 1995.

For the three-month period, the company reported a net loss of $1,525,000, or 16 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $2,772,000, or 44 cents per share, for the comparable period in the prior year. Total revenues were $437,000 for the quarter, as compared with revenues of $256,000 for the same period last year.

For the first six months of the fiscal year, the company reported a net loss of $2,980,000, or 33 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $5,576,000, or 89 cents per share, last year. Six-month revenues were $1,039,000, compared with revenues of $277,000 for the same period last year.

``We continued to make progress in establishing and expanding distribution for both the VetScan and Piccolo systems,'' said Gary Stroy, president and chief executive officer of ABAXIS. ``We are on target to begin distribution of the Piccolo System by the end of the year.''

During the quarter and in October, ABAXIS concluded distribution agreements with four additional international distributors to market its VetScan and Piccolo systems -- Diagnostic Testing Ltd., Suffolk, England; Iatropliroforiki, Athens, Greece; New Zealand Diagnostics, Lower Hutt, New Zealand; and Nasser Pharmacies Co., Manama, Bahrain.

Each distributor has initiated marketing activities to prepare its respective markets for the introduction of the Piccolo System. ABAXIS currently is working closely with its distributors in developing detailed marketing plans that will include several programs to be used in promoting and generating demand for the Piccolo and VetScan systems.

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 system consists of a compact, 6.9-kilogram, portable analyzer and a series of 8-cm-diameter single-use plastic disks, called reagent rotors, that contain all the reagents necessary to perform a fixed menu of tests. The system can be operated with minimal training and perform multiple routine tests on whole blood using either venous or fingerstick samples.

The system provides test results in less than 14 minutes with the precision and accuracy equivalent to a clinical laboratory. -0-

                              ABAXIS INC.
                     (A development-stage company)
                   Summary of Financial Information
                 (In thousands, except per-share data)

                            Three months ended       Six months ended
                                 Sept. 30,               Sept. 30,
                             1995        1994        1995        1994
                                (Unaudited)             (Unaudited)
Statements of operations
 data:
 Total revenues           $   437    $    256      $1,039    $    277
 Selling, general and
  administrative:
  Cost of sales             1,053       1,072       2,180       1,072
  Research & development      287         828         563       2,816
  Selling, general &
   administrative             783       1,056       1,558       1,930
  Total operating expenses  2,123       2,956       4,301       5,818
 Loss from operations      (1,686)     (2,700)     (3,262)     (5,541)
 Interest income              161          42         282         169
 Interest expense               0        (114)          0        (204)
 Net loss                $ (1,525)   $ (2,772)    $(2,980)   $ (5,576)
 Net loss per share      $   (.16)   $   (.44)    $  (.33)   $   (.89)
 Shares used in calculating
  net loss per share        9,466       6,319       9,106       6,299

                                       Sept. 30,               March 31,
                                         1995                    1995
                                      (Unaudited)              (Audited)
Balance-sheet data:
 Cash, cash equivalents and
  short-term cash investments         $10,662                 $ 7,195
 Working capital                      $10,748                 $ 7,109
 Long-term investments                $   650                 $   700
 Total assets                         $15,445                 $12,147
 Total shareholders' equity           $13,679                 $10,436

CONTACT: ABAXIS Inc., Sunnyvale

Gary H. Stroy, 408/745-6854

or

Pondel Parsons & Wilkinson, Los Angeles

Rob Whetstone, 310/207-9300