Techne Corporation Releases Unaudited Third Quarter Results for Fiscal Year 2001

For the three months ended March 31, 2001, Techne's consolidated net income increased 33% to $10,164,512 or 24 cents per share (diluted), compared with $7,649,538 or 18 cents (diluted) in the third quarter of last year. The improvement in earnings was primarily the result of increased sales and lower income taxes. For the three months ended March 31, 2001, Techne's consolidated sales were a record $30,240,889, an increase of $3,463,983 or 13% from the third quarter of last year. R&D Systems' Biotechnology Division net sales increased 16% to $19,399,700 from $16,658,266 and R&D Systems' Hematology Division net sales increased 3% to $3,248,378 from $3,143,364. R&D Europe's net sales increased 9% to $7,592,811 from $6,975,276. Income taxes in the third quarter of fiscal 2001 were affected by a one-time $1.4 million credit (3 cents per share) as a result of the close-out of pending issues related to a state income tax examination for fiscal years 1996 through 1999.

For the nine months ended March 31, 2001, Techne's consolidated net income increased 36% to $24,650,072 or 58 cents per share (diluted), compared with $18,061,840 or 43 cents (diluted) in the first nine months of last year. The improvement in earnings was also primarily the result of increased sales and lower income taxes. For the nine months ended March 31, 2001, Techne's consolidated sales were $84,651,118, an increase of $8,126,320 or 11% from the first nine months of last year. R&D Systems' Biotechnology Division net sales increased 14% to $53,906,598 from $47,192,193 and R&D Systems' Hematology Division net sales increased 10% to $10,434,272 from $9,527,863. R&D Europe's net sales increased 3% to $20,310,248 from $19,804,742 for the first nine months of last year.

The increase in R&D Europe net sales for the quarter and nine months was affected by changes in exchange rates. In British Pounds, R&D Europe's sales increased 20% and 14% over the third quarter and first nine months of last year. Adjusted for all changes in exchange rates, R&D Europe's revenues for the third quarter and first nine months of fiscal 2001 would have been approximately $625,000 and $2.5 million higher than reported.

During the first nine months of fiscal 2001, Techne purchased and retired 40,000 shares of common stock at a market value of $1,163,768. From the start of the repurchase program in May 1995 1,341,200 shares have been purchased at a market value of $9,917,882. The Board of Directors has authorized, subject to market conditions and share price, the purchase and retirement of up to $20 million of common stock.

Statements in this earnings release and elsewhere which look forward in time involve risks and uncertainties which may affect the actual results of operations. The following important factors, among others, have affected and, in the future, could affect the Company's actual results: the introduction and acceptance of new biotechnology and hematology products, the levels and particular directions of research into cytokines by the Company's customers, the impact of the growing number of producers of cytokine research products and related price competition, the retention of hematology OEM and proficiency survey business, the impact of currency exchange rate fluctuations, the outcome of litigation involving the Company and the costs and results of research and product development efforts of the Company and of companies in which the Company has invested or with which it has formed strategic relationships. For additional information concerning such factors, see the Company's annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Techne Corporation has two operating subsidiaries: Research and Diagnostic Systems, Inc. (R&D Systems) of Minneapolis, Minnesota and R&D Systems Europe, Ltd. (R&D Europe) of Abingdon, England. R&D Systems is a specialty manufacturer of biological products and R&D Europe is a distributor of biotechnology products.

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