Inverness Medical Agrees to Acquire Binax

Inverness Medical Innovations has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Binax, a privately held company located in Portland, Maine.

Under the terms of the agreement, Inverness will acquire all of the stock of Binax in exchange for 1,433,333 shares of its common stock and additional consideration of $8.6 million in cash at the closing of the acquisition. Inverness has agreed to register the shares issuable in the transaction prior to the closing. The agreement also provides for additional consideration to the Binax shareholders of up to $11 million in cash contingent upon Binax meeting certain new product development performance objectives over five years.

Binax is a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of rapid diagnostic products for infectious disease testing, primarily related to the respiratory system. Binax is a profitable company with sales in 2004 of approximately $20 million. The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2005 or early in the second quarter of 2005.