Avitar Selling ORALscreen(TM) Drug Units to Test International Border Guards in Republic of Georgia

November 15, 2001

CANTON, Mass., Nov. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Avitar, Inc. (Amex: - ) today announced that it has sold its ORALscreen(TM) drug-of-abuse testing products to Science Applications International Corporation, a U.S. Department of Justice intermediary that will use the units to test international border guards in the Republic of Georgia.

``This transaction is another step in Avitar increasing its presence in the security sector, which has gained new prominence since September 11,'' said Peter P. Phildius, Avitar's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. ``We anticipate that working with the U.S. government on an important international border program may provide an opportunity for Avitar to offer its oral fluid drug tests to other countries as well under similar programs.''

About Avitar

Avitar, Inc. (Amex: - ) 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.