Cholestech Corporation Announces Agreement With Metra Biosystems on Bone Resorption.

HAYWARD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 3, 1996--Cholestech Corporation (Nasdaq: CTEC) today announced that it has signed an agreement with Metra Biosystems (Nasdaq: MTRA) to develop and market a cassette for the Cholestech L-D-X System to assess bone resorption, a gauge of the effectiveness of treatments for certain metabolic bone diseases and disorders. Cholestech also announced that Metra made a small equity investment and will make additional equity investments in Cholestech based upon the achievement of certain product development milestones.

The new immunoassay cassette will utilize Metra's Pyrilinks-D urine assay, which measures the levels of deoxypyridinoline (Dpd) crosslinks released during the process of bone breakdown. The Pyrilinks-D assay received market clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December 1995. Upon successful completion of milestones, this agreement also provides for the development of cassettes for additional Metra assays to be added on to the Cholestech System. Any new cassettes will require regulatory clearance prior to marketing.

The Cholestech L-D-X System consists of a portable analyzer and family of disposable test cassettes, and was designed to be operated in a point-of-care setting by medical professionals. Currently available cassettes utilize a single drop of blood to measure cholesterols and glucose levels in less than five minutes. The new Pyrilinks-D assay cassette would be the first cassette developed for the Cholestech L-D-X System to use a specimen other than blood and will utilize immunoassay based technology.

Under the agreement, Cholestech will market the test through its existing distribution channels in the U.S. The companies will work together to market and distribute the tests internationally.

"This collaborative agreement is an important step forward in the development of the Cholestech L-D-X System as a broad-based platform for point-of-care testing," said Warren E. Pinckert II, president and chief executive officer of Cholestech. "We are pleased to be working with Metra Biosystems to bring their innovative technology to the point-of-care. This bone resorption test is the first of a series of new cassettes the Company intends to develop to address various other disease states."

According to George W. Dunbar, president and chief executive officer of Metra Biosystems, "Using the Pyrilinks-D assay on the Cholestech L-D-X System would allow the physician to quantify a patient's bone breakdown rate and provide a better assessment of risk, before the patient has left the office." Mr. Dunbar continued, "The goal of this collaboration is to provide the physician with the tools needed to rapidly understand disease activity in their patients' bone tissue, and to know whether therapeutic intervention is necessary or is having the desired effect."

Cholestech develops, manufactures and markets the Cholestech L-D-X System, a point-of-care diagnostic system that measures various analytes to identify blood detected diseases and disorders. Cholestech's existing portfolio of CLIA-waived products is designed to offer efficient and economic screening and monitoring options to help health care providers enable people to lead longer, healthier and more active lives.

CONTACT: Cholestech Corp.

Lola Moenich, 510/293-8096