ChemTrak announces management additions.

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 23, 1996--ChemTrak Inc. (NASDAQ:CMTR) a personal diagnostics company on Monday announced the appointment of Niquette L. Hunt as vice president of marketing and L. Robert Crowe as manager of quality assurance.

Both come to ChemTrak with career experience critical to ChemTrak's anticipated launch of its home HIV test service and the ongoing development and sales of its other personal diagnostic products.

Joining the ChemTrak executive team will be Niquette Hunt, a graduate of Stanford University and former brand manager at Procter and Gamble. After six years at P&G, she moved to the Warner Lambert Co. where she served as the team leader and senior product manager for two of Warner Lambert's largest consumer franchises, Benadryl and Lubriderm.

In these roles, she set the overall strategic direction for the businesses, totaling $140 million and $90 million in sales, respectively. She also managed the multifunctional teams responsible for all aspects of the marketing, sales and manufacture of the brands.

Hunt was subsequently appointed by Warner Lambert to the position of category manager -- upper respiratory (products) where she was responsible for all of Warner Lambert's upper respiratory brands (Benadryl, Sudafed, Actifed and Sinutab) with total sales in excess of $300 million.

"We are looking forward to Ms. Hunt applying her brand management expertise to the building and sustaining of the CholesTrak Home Cholesterol Test and Aware Home HIV Test Service franchises," said Edward F. Covell, president and chief operating officer.

Also joining ChemTrak is Bob Crowe who has over 20 years of experience in both industrial high-tech and clinical quality control. At Behring Diagnostics he was responsible for ensuring quality control for the company's manufacture of immuno-diagnostic assays for microbiologic and OEM products, for therapeutic drug monitoring and detection of drug abuse. He holds a BS in microbiology from the University of Kansas and began his career as toxicologist at St. Francis Hospital in Topeka.

ChemTrak markets the CholesTrak Home Cholesterol Test, both domestically and internationally. CholesTrak is the first FDA-approved product of its kind. ChemTrak has also received FDA marketing clearance for its single-use, physician's office test for Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori), the bacterium now recognized as a contributor to duodenal and peptic ulcers in humans. The company anticipates FDA clearance for Aware, its home HIV test service, in the near future.

"For the past six months we have been evaluating how ChemTrak can compete more effectively in the home diagnostics arenas we serve," said Covell. "It is vital that our shareholders and our customers understand our goal to serve as a marketing pioneer in the home diagnostics category. We are equipping ChemTrak with the necessary technologies, systems and personnel to identify and meet the needs of our customers.

"We know that we're right on track with our home HIV testing service and are looking forward to its final approval by the FDA. CholesTrak continues to build sales, and our private label and co-venture projects add strength domestically and internationally to ChemTrak's financial and business profiles. Our company has never been stronger. Our talent base never deeper. I'm confident that 1997 is going to be a big year for ChemTrak," he concluded. -0-

NOTE: Statements in this release that relate to product performance, customer acceptance, market conditions and new product plans are forward-looking statements. Actual results might differ materially from these statements due to risks and uncertainties -- including determinations by the FDA, the impact of competitive product and pricing, the timely development and acceptance of new products, and medical market conditions.

CONTACT: ChemTrak Inc., Sunnyvale

Alene A. Holzman, 408/773-8156