Strategic Diagnostics Inc. Announces Positive Results for Its Genomic Antibodies(TM) Beta Trial Program; Results Demonstrate SDI's Ability to Produce Difficult Antibodies Faster and at Lower Costs Than Competing Methodologies.

NEWARK, Del. -- Strategic Diagnostics Inc. (Nasdaq:SDIX) - today announced a positive conclusion to initial customer trials involving the company's new proprietary Genomic Antibodies(TM) product. These "beta" tests have validated the high throughput, highly optimized production processes for mouse polyclonal antibody reagents for use in research and discovery. These antibody reagents are the first products to be released on this important new technology platform. Today, the Company will begin commercialization through its Genomic Antibodies(TM) website, www.genomicantibodies.com.

About the Study

The evaluation was conducted using 14 investigators from the academic, biotech and pharmaceutical sectors. These investigators nominated 24 unique genes predicted to encode proteins of interest to their research and development efforts. These nominations were used to test all aspects of the product, including:

--The Company's method for receiving electronic genetic sequence information directly from the customer, eliminating the need to supply traditional antigen preparations.

--The ability of the Company to routinely return finished product to customers in 76 days or less, saving as much as 30 percent when compared to the time required for delivery of antibody developed using traditional methods.

--The scalability of the process to produce large numbers of unique reagents with the same high efficiency processing time and functionality.

--The ability to produce functional antibodies to traditionally "difficult" antigen targets.

--Gain a better understanding of the ability of this platform to generate a measurable return on investment (ROI) for the customer.

Submission Process

The Company's website allows investigators to simply "cut-and-paste" genetic sequence information specific to their antibody targets. This is the only input required to initiate the process, and more than 70 percent of investigators indicate they know this information before they begin their research.

Speed to Result

Each antibody project was delivered to the investigator in 76 days or less. According to a detailed independent survey completed at SDI's request, the industry average for antibody development on typical antigens ranges between 98 to 119 days. Use of traditional methods on difficult antigens took substantially longer periods for development of useful antibodies.

Scalability

The Genomic Antibodies(TM) technology platform is high throughput, highly optimized and imminently scalable to allow customers the same speed and quality advantages when ordering hundreds of unique antibodies or just one.

Difficult Antigens

Beta study results demonstrated that the SDI Genomic Antibodies(TM) process is equally or more effective when producing antibodies for "difficult" antigen targets when compared with other, more time-consuming and expensive methods. The antibodies recognize traditionally difficult antigens such as transmembrane proteins, membrane-associated proteins and highly conserved proteins. Other protein targets include signaling proteins, intracellular proteins, secreted proteins and biomarkers.

Return on Investment to the Customer

The beta study also began to define the ability of Genomic Antibodies(TM) to produce a measurable ROI for customers. The Genomic Antibodies process will lower the total cost of acquiring a unique or custom antibody by as much as 30% when all costs in the process are accounted for. For large scale research and development, the ability to acquire full panels of custom antibodies facilitates rapid screening and evaluation of protein candidates and allows scientists to focus on higher value activities in their laboratories. Academic users of the program will be able to gain access to more candidate proteins faster, which can enhance the value of their research and reduce submittal and publication times.

As a result of these positive findings, the Company launched its Genomic Antibodies(TM) website (www.genomicantibodies.com) on Friday, December 16th, and is ready to introduce the product commercially in the new year.

Matthew Knight, President and CEO of Strategic Diagnostics, commented, "These results, while early, validate the capability of the technology platform we are developing. We believe this platform will position SDI to realize substantial growth associated with the importance of antibodies in drug discovery, diagnostics and academic research. The data demonstrate that our process has the ability to produce high quality antibodies with a remarkable success rate in an extremely short period of time. Genomic Antibodies(TM) represent a significant opportunity to leverage our large-scale production facilities and antibody development expertise to target a large and rapidly growing new market for SDI. We are pleased with the positive feedback we received from participants enrolled in this initial beta test."

Dr. Keith A. Reimann, DVM, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School, one of the investigators involved in the study, commented, "By using SDI's Genomic Antibodies(TM) technology, I was able to start immunization using only the reported DNA sequences and without the need to express protein in my laboratory. The performance of Genomic Antibodies(TM) to my protein antigen equaled or exceeded antibodies obtained by conventional protein immunization. Eliminating the need to prepare and ship antigen prior to starting immunization results in useful antibodies, and therefore useful research data, on a much more accelerated timeline than when conventional methods are used. Genomic Antibodies(TM) are valuable tools for research and discovery."

"The excellent participant feedback and commentary we received was very complimentary of both the service, and the efficacy of the reagents produced and will prove invaluable as we near commercialization," concluded Mr. Knight. "We are very pleased with these results and look forward to capitalizing fully on this growth initiative during 2006."

About Genomic Antibodies(TM)

This is a unique and proprietary approach to antibody generation enabling research organizations in target market segments to increase their success rate of identifying potential therapeutic or diagnostic protein targets. This is accomplished by providing large numbers of unique antibody reagents generated from customer-specified genetic sequence information. Traditional methods of making antibodies to proteins require that the protein of interest be produced and purified in relatively large quantities prior to injection for antibody production. The SDI Genetic Immunization process eliminates the need to prepare peptide or protein antigen for injection. Instead, synthetic DNA, representing the genetic sequence of interest is injected directly, via a proprietary process that produces antibodies to the protein encoded by the DNA. SDI's Genomic Antibodies(TM) have demonstrated the ability to produce specific antibodies to native protein. The process is capable of simultaneously delivering large numbers of antibody reagents, each with a unique specificity, facilitating large-scale biomarker identification, drug development, and academic research. The exponential increase in genetic information available from all types of living organisms has created a need for large numbers of antibody reagents to detect the proteins produced by these genes. The Company estimates the total market opportunity for antibody services available to Strategic Diagnostics, through its Strategic BioSolutions brand, and available to its competitors, to be $300 million and growing at 20 percent annually.

About Strategic Diagnostics Inc.

Strategic Diagnostics Inc. develops, manufactures and markets biotechnology-based detection solutions to a diverse customer base, across multiple industrial and human health markets. By applying its core competency of creating custom antibodies to assay development, the Company produces unique, sophisticated diagnostic testing and reagent systems that are responsive to customer diagnostic and information needs. Customers benefit with quantifiable "return on investment" by reducing time, labor, and/or material costs. All this is accomplished while increasing accuracy, reliability and actionability of essential test results. The Company is focused on sustaining this competitive advantage by leveraging its expertise in immunology, proteomics, bio-luminescence and other bio-reactive technologies to continue its successful customer-focused research and development efforts. Recent innovations in high throughput production of antibodies from genetic antigens will complement the Company's established leadership in commercial and custom antibody production for the Research, Human/Animal Diagnostics, and Pharmaceutical industries, and position the Company for broader participation in the pharmacogenomics market.

This news release contains forward-looking statements reflecting SDI's current expectations. When used in this press release, the words "anticipate", "could", "enable", "estimate", "intend", "expect", "believe", "potential", "will", "should", "project", "plan" and similar expressions as they relate to SDI are intended to identify said forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ from those anticipated by SDI at this time. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, changes in demand for products, delays in product development, delays in market acceptance of new products, retention of customers and employees, adequate supply of raw materials, inability to obtain or delays in obtaining fourth party, including AOAC, or required government approvals, the ability to meet increased market demand, competition, protection of intellectual property, non-infringement of intellectual property, seasonality, and other factors more fully described in SDI's public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.