Avitar Receives Certification From New York State to Do Laboratory Testing

August 28, 2001

CANTON, Mass., Aug. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Avitar, Inc. (Amex: - news) today announced that it has been certified and licensed by the state of New York to perform toxicology laboratory testing, including its drugs-of-abuse and in-vitro diagnostics testing services, for customers in that state.

The certification was granted to Avitar's wholly owned subsidiary, United States Drug Testing Laboratories, Inc., in Des Plaines, Illinois, by The Wadsworth Center of the New York State Department of Health, Division of Laboratory Quality Certification located in Albany. The Center licenses all laboratories testing human and environmental specimens originating in New York and ensures that quality laboratory services are maintained through regular inspections, proficiency testing and availability of technical assistance, including remedial training.

``A large number of companies, including a significant number of Fortune 1000 companies, are located in New York and many have expressed interest in using our substance abuse products and services. The New York certification provides Avitar with the opportunity to offer our laboratory testing services in one of the largest, most important states in the country,'' said Peter P. Phildius, Avitar's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. ``We are also pleased because New York has one of the most stringent and difficult certification requirements in the country, and their approval is a testament to the high standards and quality work performed in Avitar's laboratories. With this certification, Avitar becomes the only company capable of providing in New York substance abuse testing using both oral fluid and hair tests.''

The Wadsworth Center, whose certification covers all aspects of laboratory work, states that the health of donors and recipients of human blood and tissues is assured by developing and implementing relevant quality standards. The promulgation, implementation and enforcement of all oversight responsibilities of the Center, including its own compliance with federal, state and local statutes, are coordinated within the Division. The staff also is responsible for oversight of the welfare of living animals used in scientific research throughout the state.

ABOUT AVITAR

Avitar, Inc. (Amex: - news) headquartered in Canton, Massachusetts, is a diagnostics company that develops, manufactures and markets innovative and proprietary medical devices in two major areas: the oral fluid drugs-of-abuse market and the disease & clinical testing market. Oral fluid diagnostics includes both the drugs-of-abuse testing market estimated to be worth $1.5 billion encompassing the corporate workplace and criminal justice markets. Avitar's products include ORALscreen(TM), the world's first non-invasive, rapid, onsite oral fluid test for drugs-of-abuse, and HAIRscreen(TM), a laboratory-based hair test for detecting long-term drug abuse. In the $20 billion disease & clinical testing market, Avitar is currently developing products that will address the conditions of Lyme disease, influenza and diabetes, as well as pregnancy.

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

This release contains 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.