Becton Dickinson and Company Announces the Acquisition of Biometric Imaging.

FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 9, 1999--Becton Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) announced today the acquisition of Biometric Imaging, Inc. (BMI), a privately-held company serving the transfusion medicine, infectious diseases, and oncology markets.

"The acquisition of BMI is part of our worldwide business strategy to significantly expand our market opportunities in the area of clinical diagnostics," said Deborah Neff, President of Becton Dickinson Biosciences (BDB) in San Jose, California. "Customers within this market segment demand faster, more cost-effective systems for disease diagnosis and quality control. BMI has the instrumentation and technology to better satisfy these customer needs. Acquiring this technology will allow BDB to rapidly enter into new and growing markets for clinical diagnostics."

Founded in 1991, BMI is located in Mountain View, California and has 60 employees. The Company manufactures cellular analysis instruments, based on a proprietary technology called microvolume fluorimetry, most notably the IMAGN(r) 2000, a proprietary clinical diagnostic instrument and reagent system. BMI has also received FDA clearance to market the IMAGN(r) 2000, and four clinical tests, STELLer(r), 4T8(r), and two CEQer(r) Assays. These assays address three clinical areas respectively: cancer patient management for transplantation medicine, AIDS patient management for infectious diseases, and quality control monitoring of blood products for transfusion medicine.

BMI has several new products under development and in clinical trials. These future products will expand BDB's current market opportunities in transfusion medicine, transplantation medicine and infectious diseases. "By merging with Becton Dickinson, BMI can capitalize on BDB's existing presence in these clinical areas and utilize their highly regarded worldwide direct sales force to expand our channel of distribution," said Chris English, President of BMI. Bala Manian, founder of BMI, added, "The complementary products offered by both companies will strengthen our customer relationships. The flow cytometry products offered by BDB and the microvolume fluorimetry products offered by BMI, provide customers a broader array of cell analysis products. Clinicians can more easily choose the method that best meets their clinical needs and ultimately, improve patient care."

Becton Dickinson pioneered leading edge cell analysis in 1973 with the introduction of FACS , the first commercially available fluorescence-activated cell sorter. Since then, the company has become the worldwide leader in flow cytometry instruments and reagents for both the research and clinical markets. Included in the company's product line are sophisticated flow cytometers and cell sorters, advanced applications and data management software, and a wide range of reagents that allows users to analyze, isolate and characterize immune cells from blood and tissue.

Becton Dickinson and Company manufactures and sells a broad range of medical supplies and devices and diagnostic systems for use by health care professionals, medical research institutions, industry and the general public. For the fiscal year ended September 30, 1998, Becton Dickinson had total operating revenues of $3.1 billion and net income of $236 million. Headquartered in San Jose, California, BDB is one of Becton Dickinson's four worldwide businesses with 1998 revenues of approximately $1 billion.

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements (as defined under Federal securities laws) regarding the company's performance, including future revenues, products and income, or events or developments that the company expects to occur or anticipates occurring in the future. As such statements are based upon current expectations of the company and involve a number of business risks and uncertainties. Actual results could vary materially from anticipated results described in any forward- looking statement. Factors that could cause actual results to vary materially from any forward-looking statement include, but are not limited to, competitive factors, changes in regional, national or foreign economic conditions, changes in interest or foreign currency exchange rates, delays in product introductions, Year 2000 issues, and changes in health care or other government regulation, as well as other factors discussed herein and in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.