BIRMINGHAM, England, February 18 /PRNewswire/ --

- A Year of Strong Growth

The Binding Site Limited ("The Binding Site" or the "Company"), a privately owned specialist U.K. diagnostics company, today announces its results for the year ending 30th September 2007.

Financial Highlights:

12 months 12 months % increase % ended 30 ended 30 underlying Sept 2007 Sept 2006 increase at constant GBPMillion GBPMillion currency Revenue 31.1 27.7 12% 18% Freelite(TM) 8.3 5.8 43% 49% sales EBITDA 6.6 4.9 35% 14%

- Underlying sales growth of 18%

- Underlying growth in Freelite(TM) sales of 49%

- 25% growth in North American sales

- Continued revenue and margin growth as a result of product development, marketing investment and improved operational controls

- Set up of new Spanish branch

- Major investment in sales and marketing, research and development and support areas

- Major advances in long term research projects

Commenting on the results, Professor Jo Bradwell, Chairman of The Binding Site, said:

"The Binding Site has enjoyed a strong 2007, underpinned by growth in the U.S. and a significant uptake of Freelite(TM). The introduction of the Freelite(TM) testing regime to the market was an important development milestone for the Company and we look forward to increased demand for this important product. In 2008 we will continue our focus on product development and marketing initiatives, as well as ensuring the Company continues to manage it's cost base appropriately. We believe these efforts will continue to yield excellent results for the Company and we are confident for the outlook over the coming year."

Financial Review

Gross profit to sales improved by 26% compared with last year in spite of the impact of the weak U.S. dollar. The dollar rate has a significant effect as 50% of sales are in dollars whereas most of the cost of production is in pounds sterling. The Company increased investment in marketing and support areas by 30%, thus ensuring an adequate platform for the future. Despite this, underlying EBITDA increased by 14%.

Areas of expansion include the increased investment in the numbers of Freelite(TM) medical education personnel, the establishment of a Canadian sales team, the setup of an additional branch in Spain, the increased investment in research and development and the unification of computer systems across the subsidiaries and branches.

The Company serviced increased repayments of the Term Loan facility, invested at a greater rate in fixed assets and managed to end the year with a small cash surplus.

Operational Review

The market segment in which the Company operates is growing at around 4% per annum driven by increasing demand for in-vitro diagnostic products. Against this background, the Company achieved sales growth of 18% on a constant currency basis.

The Company committed to a significantly larger marketing budget in 2007 with investment in both sales and marketing headcount, as well as increased activity across promotional channels. Although the majority of the return on this investment is expected longer term, the immediate impact has helped maintain levels of increased top line sales. This growth in sales was derived from two main areas:

Firstly, Freelite(TM) - a unique diagnostic test kit developed by the binding Site and used to measure a tumour marker "free light chains" in serum. The presence of elevated levels of free light chains is associated with a form of bone marrow cell cancer called multiple myeloma. Use of the Freelite(TM) assay to quantify free light chains in serum samples is a major advance in detecting and managing patients with this cancer. Having introduced this novel test in 2001, following a series of successful clinical trials, Freelite(TM) uptake is increasing worldwide and we have seen exceptional growth of 49% in top line sales this year.

Secondly, the supply of autoimmune diagnostic tests. One of the main reasons for increased growth in this area has been the placement of third party automated analysers, used to provide a platform for sales of the underlying test kits. This has been particularly effective in the U.S., where overall growth for all products was 25% on a local currency basis.

Research and Development Update

Following the successful launches of Freelite(TM) assays for use on several of the major laboratory instrument suppliers' platforms, we have continued to expand our Freelite(TM) kit portfolio. Assays are now manufactured suitable for use on instruments available to the majority of hospital laboratories. This policy of developing assays to cover all popular platforms continues into 2008 as newer platforms replace existing ones.

Several new autoimmune enzyme immunoassay products were launched during 2007, strengthening the current portfolio and giving parity in a competitive market. The current pipeline has been significantly enhanced with increased investment being allocated to speed up product development.

Complimentary products are being developed to further increase the Freelite(TM) position including a new panel of unique kits, branded Hevylite(TM), which are currently in clinical trials and are due to report out in early 2008.

The Binding Site's intellectual property (IP) portfolio was further strengthened in 2007 with one new patent application filed and an existing application granted in Japan. A new application is due to be filed in early 2008 and, subject to favourable study outcomes, two further applications will be filed during the second and third quarters of 2008.

Outlook

The Company's positive revenue and EBITDA growth has continued into the new financial year. The weakness of the U.S. dollar is expected to continue to influence profitability; the Company aims to offset this through strong trading and partial currency hedging arrangements. Growth is expected to once again be driven by the increased demand for Freelite(TM) as the impact of the previous investment in this product continues to deliver significant benefit. In the long-term, we believe that our increased investment in research and development will result in an uplift in the new products coming to market, and in the short-term we will also see benefit from the launch of a new portfolio of third party instrumentation which we believe will allow us to emulate the successful U.S. instrumentation strategy across Europe and the rest of the world. Overall, we are very confident for our 2008 prospects as we continue to grow our business on an international scale.

Notes to Editors:

About The Binding Site

The Binding Site Ltd. is a British based company specialising in the research, development and production of immunodiagnostic kits and reagents. The Binding Site manufactures a wide range of high quality and innovative products used in clinical laboratories world-wide. The business is divided into three main areas:-

Freelite(TM), a novel and highly significant tumour marker increasingly used for the diagnosis and monitoring of multiple myeloma (MM), a cancer of cells in the bone marrow. MM is the second most common blood cancer after non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Considered almost untreatable only 20 years ago, huge strides have been made in the successful treatment of multiple myeloma with new drugs becoming available and new treatment regimes being assessed. Freelite(TM) has been used as a sensitive marker for the efficacy of some of these newer treatments and has helped clinicians gain a clear understanding of how some of these drugs are benefiting their patients. Furthermore, with numerous different therapies now available, treatment decisions which may have taken weeks or months can now be made in days thanks to the availability of sensitive and reliable results using Freelite(TM). National and International guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of multiple myeloma and associated cancers now include Freelite(TM) results as a requirement for monitoring the treatment of patients. Numerous clinical trials are underway to look at the use of Freelite(TM) in a range of other malignancies as well as how the results may radically change the management of complications such as renal disease in cancer patients. There are currently approximately 1.5 million Freelite(TM) tests performed per annum with the number of analyses increasing at a rate of approx. 50% p.a.

The diagnosis and treatment of patients suffering from autoimmune diseases (caused when the body is unable to distinguish between foreign and self). Many common diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis are autoimmune in origin and The Binding Site manufactures a range of diagnostic assays and reagents used in hospital laboratories worldwide to help diagnose and monitor the treatment of these diseases, e.g. antiphospholipid syndrome, vasculitis and coeliac disease.

Products used for the detection of immunodeficiency. These include the inherited or acquired disorders of the immune system and products used in donor selection and manufacture of vaccines. The Binding Site has been and remains a market leader in products for the investigation of these diseases.

For more information please see http://www.bindingsite.co.uk

Freelite(TM) is a registered Trademark of The Binding Site Ltd. Birmingham, UK.

Enquiries: The Binding Site, Jo Bradwell, Paul Duncan, Tel: +44-121-436-1000, Financial Dynamics, Deborah Scott / Lara Mott, Tel: +44-20-7831-3113.

Enquiries: The Binding Site, Jo Bradwell, Paul Duncan, Tel: +44-121-436-1000, Financial Dynamics, Deborah Scott / Lara Mott, Tel: +44-20-7831-3113.