Date: Fri, 21 Nov 1997 01:48:15 GMT Server: WebSitePro/1.1h Accept-ranges: bytes Content-type: text/html Last-modified: Wed, 13 Aug 1997 14:47:51 GMT Content-length: 6508 American Standard Shareholder Direct

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Medical diagnostics are high margin, non-cyclical businesses with long-term growth potential and present a significant business opportunity for American Standard. Sienna’s CopalisTM technology enables a user to perform multiple tests simultaneously on a single sample. This method contrasts with current technologies which require multiple procedures with diverse laboratory instruments, often in separate laboratory locations. Sienna’s first products focus on pre-natal diagnostics. The Copalis system and its initial diagnostic tests received U.S. Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approval in 1996 and will be marketed and sold in 1997.
Designed for ease of use, Copalis technology enables a nurse or technologist to perform multiple tests simultaneously on a single test sample with significantly faster results and at lower costs than other technologies.

Alimenterics’ LARATM system provides a noninvasive method for the diagnosis of gastrointestinal diseases via the breath. This method, too, differs from current technologies which require endoscopy or other expensive, invasive testing procedures. Alimenterics’ initial product focus is on the detection of H.pylori, the bacterium associated with peptic ulcer disease. It submitted filings with the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products in 1996 for its LARA system and will submit a regulatory approval application to the FDA later this year.

Both technologies have extended applications within the medical diagnostics industry. Additional product applications for the Copalis system include fertility and infectious disease testing. Copalis also has applications beyond the bio-medical field including food and dairy testing, environmental monitoring and veterinary diagnostics. Other disease detection areas for the LARA system include lactose intolerance, bacterial overgrowth and liver dysfunction.

The LARA System is a fully-automated, free standing diagnostic device with pre-programmed self-diagnostics and other features that make it easy to use. The technology, which measures isotopic ratios in breath samples, is as precise and accurate as, but less expensive and complex than, current technologies.

The Ideal Match

To support the growth and development of Sienna and Alimenterics, the Company is in the process of acquiring Sorin Biomedica and INCSTAR Corporation, a Sorin subsidiary. The synergistic benefits are substantial. Sorin and INCSTAR will accelerate the menu development and marketing process for Sienna’s Copalis technology. They will provide Sienna with the chemistry needed for Copalis while obtaining a closed diagnostic platform to enhance their own market positioning. As a result, all three businesses stand to benefit from the merger. Sorin/INCSTAR’s diagnostic business, with approximately 100 research and development scientists, will enable the Company to accelerate development of the Copalis technology by providing a recognized source of immunological reagents. Both Sienna and Alimenterics will also benefit from Sorin/INCSTAR’s established marketing organization. The Company believes that the value of bringing these businesses together is well over and above the value of the businesses on a stand-alone basis.



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