Avitar, Inc. Signs Long-Term Contract With Civigenics Inc. To Provide Laboratory Test Services

December 14, 2000

CANTON, MA, December 14, 2000 – Avitar, Inc. (AMEX: AVR) today announced that it has signed a long-term contract to provide CiviGenics, Inc. with high quality drug testing lab services. The contract is estimated to provide in excess of $1 million in the first year. Under the agreement, Secon, a division of CiviGenics, has engaged Avitar’s United States Drug Testing Laboratory (USDTL) to perform their substance abuse tests for the corporate and criminal justice customers located primarily in the Mid-west. Secon will provide Avitar’s lab with the reagents and instruments to process substance abuse tests, while USDTL will furnish the facility and its superior expert lab talent.

"We selected Avitar’s laboratory because it is certified by the College of American Pathologists – Forensic Urine Drug Testing category (CAP-FUDT) and the Clinical Laboratory Information Act of 1988 (CLIA ’88), and has an impeccable reputation in the industry for accuracy and rapid turnaround," said E. Stephen Afeman, Executive Vice President at CiviGenics, Inc. "Because Avitar is interested in being on the cutting edge of technology and delivering the highest quality service, it is an ideal partner for Secon and CiviGenics. Considering that USDTL is located in the Mid-west, where we see great potential for growth, we look forward to our relationship prospering," Afeman added.

"This contract reinforces our a significant foothold in the high-tech drug testing laboratory marketplace. We project that substantial additional revenues will follow from this initial contract," said Peter Phildius, Avitar’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

ABOUT CIVIGENICS, INC.

CiviGenics, Inc., based in Marlborough, MA, is a unique organization with a single focus: the custody and rehabilitation of criminal justice populations. Under a single corporate banner, CiviGenics, Inc. is organized into expert divisions in nineteen states: jail management, community corrections behavioral health care, substance abuse treatment and recidivism reduction and education, probation and parole, and non-profit management. CiviGenics, Inc. designs and implements integrated service solutions to local, state and federal jurisdictions throughout the United States and is the fourth largest private jail/prison operator in the United States, with secure correctional facilities in Texas, Colorado, Ohio, and Illinois.

ABOUT AVITAR, INC.

Avitar, Inc. (AMEX: AVR) headquartered in Canton, Massachusetts, develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical devices based on core technologies in oral fluid diagnostics and customized polyurethane applications. The company markets a unique portfolio of substance abuse testing products and services that include ORALscreenTM, the world’s first rapid point-of-collection oral fluid test for drugs of abuse, ORALadvantage™, the first comprehensive substance abuse program featuring its oral fluid-based products, HAIRscreenTM, a laboratory-based test for detecting long term drug abuse using hair, and several other specialized tests for drugs of abuse. ORALscreen is a cost-effective drugs-of-abuse test with potential net cost savings of more than $100.00 per sample tested. Additional products include an oral fluid collection system for DNA testing as well as a proprietary line of polyurethane-based high tech medical devices.

For more information, see Avitar’s website at avitarinc.com.

This release forward looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the development and marketing of new applications and other risks that are detailed from time to time in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.