Zila's OraScreen and OralScan's OralCDx Are Complementary For Oral Cancer Diagnosis

LONDON (PROTEXT) - Zila Europe, a division of Zila, Inc.(Nasdaq: ZILA), international provider of healthcare products fordental/medical professionals and consumers, and marketer of theOraScreen(TM) oral cancer detection product, advises dentalprofessionals that the new OralCDx(R) computer-assisted brushbiopsy analysis technology complements the use of OraScreen inpromoting early detection, diagnosis and treatment of oralcancer. (The OraScreen product is marketed as OraTest(R) incountries other than the UK and Australia.) OralCDx, a service ofOralScan(TM) Laboratories of Suffern, New York, is the subject ofa favorable clinical study report in the October issue of theJournal of the American Dental Association. "The two technologies -- OraScreen and OralCDx -- are highlycompatible," said OralScan Medical Director Drore Eisen, DDS, MD."The primary purpose of the OraScreen product is to identify oralabnormalities that may have been overlooked in a visual oralcancer examination. Once these abnormalities are highlighted byOraScreen, the minimally invasive OralCDx biopsy procedure may beused to test these lesions, without anesthesia, to definitivelydetermine their significance. Thus, OralCDx is highlycomplementary to the primary function of Zila's OraScreenproduct." The OraScreen product uses the metachromatic stain Zila(R)Tolonium Chloride (a patented pharmaceutical grade toluidine blueformulation) to help clinicians detect suspicious lesions, chooseoptimum sites for biopsy, and define margins for surgery. Onceattention is drawn to a suspicious lesion, a tissue sample can becollected using a brush biopsy (facilitated by materials includedin the OralCDx biopsy kit), and the sample is sent to theOralScan laboratory for computer-assisted analysis; a report isthen issued to the clinician. The OralCDx computer was designedto be compatible with oral lesion tissue samples stained withtoluidine blue. Use of the OraScreen product reduces randomizedtissue sampling, increasing the likelihood of providing a biopsysample containing malignant cells when such cells are present inthe oral cavity. Adrian Webber, General Manager of Zila Europe, added, "TheOraScreen procedure helps overcome a persistent problem: youcan't biopsy something that isn't seen. If dentists first use theOraScreen toluidine blue rinse procedure, research and experienceindicate that a subsequent biopsy is more likely to includeearlier stage cancerous or pre-cancerous cells. The early-detection capability of the OraScreen product combined with theaccuracy of the OralCDx computer-aided laboratory analysis couldyield significantly improved patient care." The OraTest product is now available or approved in 14countries; additional regulatory approvals and distributionagreements are being pursued in many countries worldwide.Additional OraTest product marketing launches are planned inEurope and the Middle East in the coming months. OralCDx iscurrently available in the U.S. and preparations are underway tointroduce it in the UK by the end of 1999. This document contains forward-looking statements within themeaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-lookingstatements are based largely on Zila's expectations or forecastsof future events, can be affected by inaccurate assumptions andare subject to various business risks and known and unknownuncertainties, a number of which are beyond the Company'scontrol. These include possible political, economic orcontractual complications involved in foreign business dealings.Therefore, actual results could differ materially from theforward-looking statements contained herein. A wide variety offactors could cause or contribute to such differences and couldadversely impact revenues, profitability, cash flows and capitalneeds. There can be no assurance that the forward-lookingstatements contained in this document will, in fact, transpire orprove to be accurate. For a more detailed description of theseand other cautionary factors that may affect Zila's futureresults, please refer to Zila's annual report on Form 10-K forits fiscal year ended July 31, 1998, filed with the Securitiesand Exchange Commission. ots Original Text Service: Zila EuropeInternet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: Adrian Webber, GMof Zila Europe, 01722 412312

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