NEWARK, Del.–Strategic Diagnostics Inc., now doing business as SDIX (Nasdaq: SDIX – News), a leading provider of biotechnology-based products and services for a broad range of life science, biotechnology, diagnostic, and food safety applications, today announced it has signed a distribution agreement with AES CHEMUNEX.

Under terms of the agreement AES CHEMUNEX will have rights to distribute SDIX’s RapidChek® and RapidChek® SELECT™ food pathogen detection systems in France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. SDIX will continue to market its RapidChek and RapidChek SELECT lines directly in the United States and through selected distributors outside the USA. The initial focus of this agreement in 2010 will be for the RapidChek SELECT Salmonella product which has recently received AFNOR certification.

RapidChek and RapidChek SELECT are easy to use, accurate and affordable pathogen detection systems. Each test focuses on the total process, optimizing both the enrichment and the detection portions of the test system. All systems have a proprietary enrichment broth, ensuring superior recovery and growth of the target pathogen, if present in the food sample. In addition, the test strips provide clear and rapid results.

Tim Lawruk, SDIX Food Safety Market Manager, said, “Given the increasing globalization of the food market, international customers need to have consistent quality systems and testing methodologies to ensure safer food. We believe this agreement will help users in France, Spain, Germany and Italy enhance their abilities to test for food borne pathogens using the proven fast, accurate, and cost-effective technology and methodologies of our RapidChek test systems. We expect our relationship with AES CHEMUNEX will help both companies to continue enjoying excellent growth and market acceptance in the global food safety market. ”

Fran DiNuzzo, President and CEO of SDIX, added, “SDIX continues to search for and implement ways to help customers ensure that their food products meet global safety standards. The AES CHEMUNEX agreement further demonstrates our commitment to supply the worldwide food market with complete testing solutions, providing highly differentiated solutions that give our customers added value. We are excited to be working with AES CHEMUNEX as a key partner in support of international food safety.”

According to Christophe Gincheleau, Microbiology Product Manager for AES CHEMUNEX, “AES CHEMUNEX is committed to providing quality products and best solutions to microbiology laboratories. AES CHEMUNEX ensures that its customers are spoiled for choice when it comes to the range of both traditional microbiology and rapid microbiology kits available for the detection of pathogens in foodstuffs. The RapidChek product range allows us to offer more innovative and competitive solutions in Europe.”

About AES CHEMUNEX (www.aeschemunex.com)

Established in 1980, AES CHEMUNEX is the first manufacturer to have developed a full line of tools for microbiology laboratories, from sample collection to results.

The company has gained a proven experience in mastering different technologies like flow- and laser scanning cytometry, molecular biology, culture media or metrology. These different technologies are supported by six specialized departments. This is the reason why AES CHEMUNEX is considered an expert in all steps of the microbiological analysis and has become a leading French food microbiology solution provider.

About SDIX (www.sdix.com)

SDIX is a biotechnology company, expert at creating advantage by providing a broad range of quality, innovative and effective immuno-solutions to the Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, Diagnostics, and Food Safety markets. For nearly 20 years, SDIX has developed antibodies which advance its customers’ immuno-based work – reducing time, labor, and costs while increasing accuracy and reliability of results.

SDIX offers a full suite of integrated immuno-solution capabilities including assay design, development, and production. In life science markets, SDIX capabilities are being used to help discover the mechanisms of disease, facilitate the development of new drugs, and provide mechanisms for rapid diagnosis.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements reflecting SDIX’s current expectations. When used in this press release, words like “anticipate”, “could”, “enable”, “estimate”, “intend”, “expect”, “believe”, “potential”, “will”, “should”, “project”, “plan” and similar expressions as they relate to SDIX are intended to identify said forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ from those anticipated by SDIX at this time. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, changes in demand for products, the application of our technologies to various uses, delays in product development, delays in market acceptance of new products, retention of customers and employees, adequate supply of raw materials, inability to obtain or delays in obtaining fourth party or required government approvals, the ability to meet increased market demand, competition, protection of intellectual property, non-infringement of intellectual property, seasonality, and other factors more fully described in SDIX’s public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.