Neogen, Hamilton Thorne Biosciences to develop advanced testing products

LANSING, Mich., June 18, 2002 — Neogen Corporation (Nasdaq: NEOG) and Hamilton Thorne Biosciences today announced an agreement to jointly develop the next generation of rapid bacterial food safety tests.

Under the agreement, Neogen will license Hamilton Thorne’s advanced ramification amplification method (RAM) of genetic detection to develop rapid tests for dangerous foodborne bacteria, such as E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella and Listeria. RAM technology is currently used in studies of the genome, and diagnostic and drug discovery applications. Adapting RAM technology to food safety applications would present numerous advancements to the testing market, including speed and sensitivity.

"As we continue our commitment to offer the best, simplest and fastest food safety tests in the industry, we continue our commitment to advance the technology," said Mark Mozola, Neogen’s vice president of Research & Development. "We believe that Hamilton Thorne’s RAM technology offers an excellent opportunity to advance the speed and accuracy of food safety testing, and we look forward to developing new tests using its principles."

"We are very pleased to enter into a business relationship with a leading company in an important market," said Harry McCoy, Hamilton Thorne’s president and COO. "In particular, we are very happy that Neogen is joining us in the development of products based on our exciting platform technology. We feel that our RAM technology will enable Neogen to define a new generation of tests for food safety analysis."

Hamilton Thorne Biosciences (www.hamiltonthorne.com) is a private, Beverly, Mass.-based DNA technology company with a focus on the detection and quantification of proteins and nucleic acids. RAM is Hamilton Thorne’s patented method for the isothermal (single temperature) amplification of nucleic acids.

Neogen Corporation develops and markets products and services dedicated to food and animal safety. The Company's Food Safety Division markets dehydrated culture media, and diagnostic test kits to detect foodborne bacteria, natural toxins, genetic modifications, food allergens, drug residues, plant diseases and sanitation concerns. Neogen's Animal Safety Division markets a complete line of diagnostics, veterinary instruments, veterinary pharmaceuticals and nutritional supplements.

Certain portions of this news release that do not relate to historical financial information constitute forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Actual future results and trends may differ materially from historical results or those expected depending on a variety of factors listed in
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in the Company’s most recently filed Form 10-K.