MDS sells laboratory operations in New York and Georgia to LabCorp

Toronto, ON – March 16, 2004 – MDS Diagnostic Services says it has sold its laboratory operations in Poughkeepsie, NY and Atlanta, GA, to Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp) in an asset purchase transaction. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

It says that LabCorp immediately assumes responsibility for these operations, including employees and facilities in both locations.

“Late in 2003, we indicated that the US laboratory business had not been meeting our performance expectations,” says Cam Crawford, President, MDS Diagnostic Services. "This sale is a necessary step in repositioning the US laboratory business at MDS and will have a positive impact on our operations going forward."

The company says the transaction does not affect its joint-venture operations at the Memphis Pathology Laboratory and at Integrated Regional Laboratories in Florida or its relationship with the Duke University Health System Clinical Laboratories.