Centrex Attends Biodefense Conference.

Health/Medical Writers

Biodefense Mobilization Conference

TULSA, Okla.--(BW HealthWire)--April 18, 2002

Centrex, Inc. (OTCBB:CNEX) today announced that it had participated in the Biodefense Mobilization Conference in Seattle April 8-11, 2002.

The Conference was the largest bioterrorism/biodefense conference ever held in the United States. The Conference participants included representatives from State and Federal Governments, the Military, fire and police departments, EMS systems, public health departments, private industry and academia.

Among the principal topics addressed were discussions of potential bioterrorism agents and biodetectors, an area of special interest to Centrex. The presentations and discussions reconfirmed the Company's contention that DNA profiling is the most accurate and dependable technology for identifying the presence of a bacterial or viral bioterrorism agent. In addition, review of the technologies currently available, or in development, demonstrated no competitive advantage of any biodetection technology over the proposed Centrex Bioterrorism Agent Identification System with regard to speed or accuracy.

"The Conference reinforced the idea that this industry is only in its infancy, and that we must actively work to develop new and effective technologies to combat the bioterrorism threat," said Thomas R. Coughlin, Jr., MD, CEO of Centrex. "There is a real and urgent need for products that can become dependable tools in the fight against bioterrorism. Centrex is developing a system designed to provide early identification of bioterrorism agents, so that swift countermeasures can be taken and lives saved."

Centrex owns the exclusive worldwide license to develop, manufacture, and market a system for detecting microbial contamination in air, food, and water. The detection system, currently in development, is designed to be adaptable and is easily tailored to detect a variety of bacterial or viral organisms by recognizing the unique DNA fingerprint of the organism. Since the September 11th attacks and the subsequent bioterrorism attacks through the U.S. mail, the Company has expanded its mission to include the development of technology for the rapid detection of potential bioterrorism agents. The organisms being considered for detection by the prototype device include all those named in the validated threat list published by the Defense Intelligence Agency, in addition to several other potential biowarfare agents. The proposed device is designed to be a simultaneous multi-channel detection system that is compact, fully automated and capable of monitoring the presence of biological agents in air, food, and water.

The Biodefense Mobilization Conference website is at www.bio-defense.org and contains not only an outline of the conference program, but multiple links on bioterrorism and biodefense. The Centrex website, listed below, also contains many useful bioterrorism links which provide access to bibliographies, internet resources, journal articles, government documents, education, and training materials on bioterrorism. The Company hopes that the availability of these links will help educate site visitors on the bioterrorism threat and provide answers to some common questions.

For more information, visit the Centrex website at www.centrexcorporation.com or call Investor Relations at 585/216-2072

This press release contains some forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Forward-looking statements in this document should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect our business. Those uncertainties are discussed in the Company's SEC filings.