American Bio Medica Corp. Third-Quarter Revenue Increases 442 Percent to a New Record.

HUDSON, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 18, 1999--American Bio Medica Corp. (Nasdaq:ABMC) Thursday announced that revenue for the third quarter ended Jan. 31, 1999, increased 442 percent to a record $2,061,000 from $380,000 for the same period a year earlier.

The net loss was $604,000, or 4 cents per diluted share. This compares with a net loss of $1,003,000, or 7 cents per diluted share, for last year's third quarter.

For the nine months ended Jan. 31, 1999, revenue increased 266 percent to $5,142,000 from $1,405,000 for last year's first three quarters. The net loss was $1,095,000, or 8 cents per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $2,135,000, or 16 cents per diluted share, a year ago.

President and Chief Executive Officer Stan Cipkowski said: "American Bio Medica achieved a number of primary objectives in the third quarter: We eclipsed the $2 million revenue mark for the first time in the company's history; we signed a four-year worldwide sales and marketing agreement with Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT); we received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market the 9 panel Rapid Drug Screen(tm) to clinical markets; we were awarded by the U.S. Patent Office a patent on the multiple drug test card used in the Rapid Drug Screen family of products; we entered the rapidly growing market for rapid substance abuse screening in the physician's office with our 9 panel version of the Rapid Drug Screen test; we enhanced our first-class marketing network with new distribution agreements for targeted international and U.S. markets; and we completed work on our in-house manufacturing facility. Clearly, ABMC is in a better position than ever before to compete successfully in all of our targeted substance-abuse markets."

Cipkowski explained that the agreement with Abbott Laboratories gives Abbott exclusive worldwide rights to all present and future ABMC substance-abuse products in clinical markets, except for countries where ABMC has existing contracts. "This relationship provides ABMC with the marketing strength we need to successfully penetrate global clinical markets with our Rapid Drug Screen kits," he said.

Cipkowski noted that the distribution agreement ABMC entered into with SM Health Services to market the company's Rapid Drug Screen in Colombia for corporate and government drug-free workplace programs will be the first on-site drug test readily available in that country. He added that ABMC's agreement with SUR-SCAN, a division of Aurora Medical Systems, is targeted to workplace, correctional, occupational health and educational drug-testing markets in Texas.

"Each additional distribution agreement represents a significant new market opportunity for the company. Our strategy is to continue to establish relationships with partners of this caliber which will enable ABMC to reach farther into our target markets and strengthen our global presence," Cipkowski said.

Noting that the FDA clearance of the 9 panel Rapid Drug Screen is the company's fourth 510 (k) clearance from the FDA, Cipkowski said, "This FDA clearance confirms our ability to rapidly bring to market our expanding line of products which are tailored to meet the specific needs of sizable substance-abuse testing sectors."

Cipkowski explained that the patent on the multiple drug test card is another in a series of patents and trademarks that have been awarded ABMC. "We are building a patent portfolio to protect the company's intellectual property rights and have more than 30 additional patents and trademarks pending worldwide," he said.

Earlier this week, ABMC's Portuguese distributor, GRIMEXTUR, LDA, signed an exclusive agreement with Portugal's professional basketball league, Liga Dos Clubes De Basquetebol, to use the company's Rapid Drug Screen kits for random on-site testing of its players. "We believe professional and amateur sports are an excellent opportunity for ABMC and intend to aggressively pursue this segment of the market," he continued.

As of Jan. 31, 1999, the company had $2,376,000 in cash and receivables, working capital of $3,412,000 and total stockholders' equity of $4,003,000.

American Bio Medica develops, manufactures and markets inexpensive, accurate, on-site drugs of abuse diagnostic kits and support services worldwide. The company's global distributors target the workplace, clinical, rehabilitation, physicians, corrections and educational markets. ABMC's Rapid Drug Screen is proven to correlate 100 percent with the standard laboratory screening test.

Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainties, including, without limitation, continued acceptance of the company's products; increased levels of competition for the company; new products and technological changes; the company's dependence on third-party suppliers; intellectual property rights; and other risks detailed from time to time in the company's periodic report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. -0-

                      AMERICAN BIO MEDICA CORP.
            CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
             ($ in thousands, except for per share data)
                              (Unaudited)

                              Three Months Ended   Nine Months Ended
                                  January 31,          January 31,
                                1998       1999      1998       1999

Revenues                      $   380    $ 2,061   $ 1,405    $ 5,142
Cost of sales                     171      1,083       664      2,319

 Gross profit                     209        978       741      2,823

Operating expenses:
 Selling, general
  & administrative              1,053      1,345     2,032      3,374
Non-cash compensation charges      54         --       722         --
Depreciation & amortization        26         22        77         66
 Research & development            96        163        96        266
Write-off of bad debts             17         45        34         --

Total costs & expenses          1,246      1,575     2,961      3,706

Income (loss) from operations  (1,037)      (597)   (2,220)      (883)

Other income & expense
 Interest income                   34         30        85         47

Net income (loss)             $(1,003)   $  (567)  $(2,135)   $  (836)

Adjustments:
 Preferred stock beneficial
  conversion feature               --         --        --       (123)
 Preferred stock dividend          --        (37)       --       (136)

Net loss attributable to
 common shareholders          $(1,003)   $  (604)  $(2,135)   $(1,095)

Basic & diluted (loss)
 per common share             $ (0.07)   $ (0.04)  $ (0.16)   $ (0.08)

Weighted average shares
 Basic & diluted               13,738     14,455    13,738     14,455


                 CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
                           ($ in thousands)

                             Jan. 31,          Apr. 30,
ASSETS                         1999              1998
                            (unaudited)        (audited)

Current assets               $ 4,099           $ 4,966

Property, plant &
 equipment, net                  302              147

Other assets                     289              243

Total                        $ 4,690          $ 5,356


                             Jan. 31,          Apr. 30,
LIABILITIES AND                1999              1998
EQUITY                      (unaudited)        (audited)

Current liabilities          $   687          $   486

Long-term liabilities             --               --

Shareholders' equity           4,003            4,870

Total                        $ 4,690          $ 5,356