development of a continuous glucose monitor

[Guest guest]

News Releases

For Immediate Release

December 1, 1999 Financial - H. Muller, Jr.

Media - Bill Wells

Abbott Laboratories Increases Equity Position in SpectRx, Inc. as Part of

Agreement to Develop Continuous Glucose Monitor for People with Diabetes

NNORCROSS, GEORGIA -- SpectRx, Inc., (NASDAQ: SPRX) today announced it has

agreed to include joint development of a continuous glucose monitor as part

of an existing agreement with Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT). As part of

the agreement, Abbott has increased its equity position in SpectRx by

purchasing $2.75 million in convertible redeemable preferred stock and is

expected to make an additional $2.5 million convertible redeemable preferred

stock investment in SpectRx on January 3, 2000 under the same financial

terms and conditions.

Based on SpectRx's biophotonic technology, the wearable sensor, worn on top

of the skin, offers the promise of allowing people with diabetes to

continuously monitor their glucose levels without the pain and inconvenience

of using needles, implanting a sensor or drawing blood.

Under the revised agreement, Abbott has exclusive worldwide marketing rights

to continuous monitoring as well as single-use monitoring applications of

the technology. The new agreement includes revised milestones, and

cooperative research and development focused initially on continuous

monitoring. Under the agreement, SpectRx will receive a royalty on sales of

disposables and have the option to manufacture continuous monitoring devices

for Abbott.

" This is a significant agreement for SpectRx that recognizes our progress in

continuous glucose monitoring with our prototype meter and wearable patch

design, " said Mark A. s, SpectRx chairman and CEO. " The device has

been in development for the past year and a prototype system was

demonstrated at the 1999 American Diabetes Association meeting. We look

forward to Abbott's financial and technical help, under the new agreement,

to move this product to market. "

The SpectRx technology measures glucose levels in interstitial fluid (ISF).

The ISF is collected through an array of micropores created with a laser in

the stratum corneum, the dead outer layer of skin, and measured in a patch

containing a glucose sensor. A study conducted by SpectRx, and presented at

the 1999 American Diabetes Association meeting, with 20 diabetics wearing

the continuous monitoring system showed a correlation coefficient ® of

0.90, when compared to a finger stick method, over a glucose range of 60 to

400 mg/dL.

Blood glucose levels are a measure of an individual's health status. Because

people with diabetes cannot properly metabolize glucose, they must

frequently monitor their glucose levels by pricking their fingertips to draw

the drop of blood necessary for conventional glucose monitoring. The

International Diabetes Federation estimates that diabetes affects more than

150 million people worldwide. Complications from diabetes include kidney

disease, blindness and increased risk of heart disease. The yearly worldwide

market for glucose testing is estimated at $3 billion and is growing at an

annual rate of 12 to 18 percent.

SpectRx, Inc. is a leading biophotonics company that develops and

manufactures painless and bloodless alternatives to medical diagnostic and

monitoring procedures. For more information, visit the SpectRx web site at

www.spectrx.com.

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Certain matters discussed in this announcement contain forward-looking

statements that involve material risks to, and uncertainties in the

company's business that may cause actual results to differ materially from

those anticipated by the statements made herein. The matters discussed

herein should be viewed together with the Risk Factors in the Company's 10K

for the year ending December 31, 1998 on file with the SEC.

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