Beckman Coulter Signs Contract With U.S. Veterans Administration.

FULLERTON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 1, 1999--

Beckman Coulter Inc. (NYSE:BEC) Wednesday announced that the company has received a five-year contract from the Veterans Administration that includes in vitro diagnostics instruments, service and consumable products.

Anticipated revenues will be in excess of $100 million over the contract term, which runs from October 1999 through September 2004.

The contract gives Beckman Coulter the ability to procure future business from 12 Tri-Care Regions that represent the Department of Defense and 22 individual Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISN). To date, Beckman Coulter has signed agreements with 13 of the 22 VISN laboratory networks.

According to Jeff McHugh, vice president, director of North America Field Operations for Beckman Coulter, "We have enjoyed an excellent working relationship with the Veterans Administration during the past five years. Our ability to provide 100% of routine hospital blood testing and 75% of specialty testing in clinical laboratories helped us secure this contract for another five years."

The contract covers a variety of laboratory service areas, including general chemistry, immunodiagnostics, hematology, flow cytometry, and coagulation products.

Beckman Coulter, Inc. is a leading provider of instrument systems and complementary products that simplify and automate processes in life science and clinical laboratories. The company's products are used throughout the world in all phases of the battle against disease, from pioneering medical research and drug discovery to diagnostic testing that aids in patient treatment. Annual sales for the company totaled $1.7 billion in 1998, with approximately half of this amount generated outside the United States.