ABAXIS reports fiscal year-end and fourth-quarter financial results.

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(HealthWire)--April 25, 1996--ABAXIS Inc. (NASDAQ/NM:ABAX), a medical products company, Thursday reported operating results for its 1996 fiscal year and for the fourth fiscal quarter ended March 31, 1996.

For the fiscal year, ABAXIS reported a net loss of $6,196,000, or $0.65 per share, compared with a net loss of $8,986,000, or $1.24 per share, for last year. Total revenues rose 182 percent to $2,948,000, as compared with revenues of $1,044,000 for its 1995 fiscal year.

Revenues for the 1996 fiscal year were composed primarily of product sales as compared to the prior year, which includes product sales of $845,000 and development revenues of $199,000.

For the fourth quarter ended March 31, 1996, the company reported a net loss of $1,660,000, or $0.17 per share, compared with a net loss of $1,515,000, or $0.17 per share, last year. Revenues for the quarter were $1,017,000, compared with revenues of $450,000 for the same period last year.

Commenting on the year, Gary H. Stroy, president and chief executive officer of ABAXIS highlighted the major progress made during fiscal 1996.

"We kicked off the year by obtaining FDA clearance to market Piccolo and later entered into a distribution agreement with Baxter Healthcare Corp. We added important sales and marketing leadership which resulted in the company's entering into agreements with 15 international distributors, conducted a series of training programs and began shipment of our systems internationally," said Stroy.

"On the veterinary side, we continue to increase our presence in this market segment by obtaining over 350 U.S. customers. We greatly enhanced our product line by adding four new reagent disc products, including a revolutionary thyroxine (T4) test to better serve our veterinary customers' needs.

"Looking forward, we expect fiscal 1997 to be the year for us to begin harvesting the fruit of our labor," Stroy continued. "Expanding beyond the 50 systems that have been sold internationally, we have received some non-cancelable purchase orders from multiple international distributors, and we plan to continue to expand our sales effort worldwide.

"In addition to Baxter Healthcare, we are in discussion with other U.S. distributors to broaden our coverage domestically. We intend to release additional disc products for both Piccolo and VetScan systems which we expect will enhance the marketability of our system, while we continue to develop new test methods to expand our menu toward our long-term corporate goal of delivery of the top 50 blood tests to the point-of-care setting."

During the quarter, ABAXIS held a weeklong extensive training seminar for 24 representatives from its newly established international distributor sales force, marking the third phase of pre-launch activities for international distribution of the Piccolo Portable Blood Analyzer.

Subsequent to the training program, the company received standing purchase orders from four of its international distributors, including one for 100 instruments and approximately 25,000 reagent discs, totaling more than $800,000 in value, from Teramecs, its Japanese partner.

ABAXIS also expanded its direct sales force in the United States and held a similar training for them in March in preparation for the Piccolo launch in the United States. ABAXIS intends to hold a third sales training program for the Baxter team this May.

In this news release, the words "expect," "plan" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements which are made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.

The future events described in such statements involve risks and uncertainties, among them risks and uncertainties related to the market acceptance of its products and the continuing development of its products, including required FDA clearance and other governmental approvals, risks associated with manufacturing and distributing its products on a commercial scale, including complying with federal and state food and drug regulations, general market conditions, competition and other risks detailed from time to time in ABAXIS' SEC reports.

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 discs, 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 Financial Information
               (In thousands, except per-share data)

                                                     (Unaudited)
                                Year Ended       Fourth Quarter Ended
                                 March 31,             March 31,
                              1996       1995       1996       1995
Statements of Operations
 Data:
Revenues                    $ 2,948    $ 1,044   $  1,017   $    450
Operating expenses:
Cost of sales                 4,883      2,587      1,369        723
Research and development      1,326      4,166        361        563
Selling, general and
 administrative               3,482      3,504      1,065        779
Total operating expenses      9,691     10,257      2,795      2,065
Loss from operations         (6,743)    (9,213)    (1,778)    (1,615)
Interest income                 547        376        118        102
Interest expense                 --       (149)        --         (2)
Net loss                    $(6,196)   $(8,986)   $(1,660)   $(1,515)
Net loss per share          $ (0.65)   $ (1.24)   $ (0.17)   $ (0.17)
Shares used in calculating
 net loss per share           9,466      7,268      9,849      8,719

-0-
                                            March 31,
                                      1996             1995
Balance Sheet Data:
Cash, cash equivalents and
 short-term investments            $  7,778         $  7,195
Working capital                    $  7,912         $  7,109
Long-term investments              $    500         $    700
Total assets                       $ 13,046         $ 12,147
Total shareholders' equity         $ 10,726         $ 10,436

CONTACT: ABAXIS Inc.

Ting Lu, 408/745-6851

or

Pondel Parsons & Wilkinson

Rob Whetstone, 310/207-9300

Internet: [e-mail]