OraSure Sponsors ''Road to Hope'' HIV/AIDS Awareness Tour; Nationa

    Business Editors/Education Writers/Health/Medical Writers

    BETHLEHEM, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 30, 2005--OraSure Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSUR), the market leader in oral fluid diagnostics, announced today that it will be the presenting sponsor of the 2005 Road to Hope Tour, a national HIV/AIDS awareness campaign. The tour is being organized by Hope's Voice, a national HIV/AIDS organization committed to promoting the education and prevention of HIV/AIDS to young adults and the Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC), a national HIV/AIDS advocacy movement with more than 75 chapters at high schools, colleges, and universities across the United States.
    From April 3, 2005 to May 7, 2005, the Road to Hope Tour will visit 22 schools across the United States to speak with students about HIV awareness, prevention and advocacy. Each stop will feature a panel of Hope's Voice speakers who are HIV positive and will talk and answer questions about living with HIV/AIDS. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least half of all new HIV infections are estimated to be among those under the age of 25.
    All Road to Hope Tour stops will feature onsite or local HIV testing with the OraQuick(R) ADVANCE(TM) Rapid HIV-1/2 Antibody Test. This test is manufactured by OraSure Technologies and is the first and only U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved and CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvements Amendments Act of 1988) waived rapid point-of-care test that can detect antibodies to both HIV-1 and HIV-2 in 20 minutes, using oral fluid, finger-stick or venipuncture whole blood or plasma specimens.
    "OraSure is proud to be the presenting sponsor of such a moving and powerful program," said Douglas A. Michels, President and CEO of OraSure Technologies. "We hope that the personal experiences of the Hope's Voice speakers will help young men and women to see that HIV affects people from all different backgrounds, not just one sexual orientation or race, and that HIV testing is a crucial step in controlling this epidemic."
    The tour theme, "Does HIV Look Like Me?" targets young adults and communicates the messages that HIV does not discriminate, and that HIV status cannot be determined by one's physical appearance. Materials distributed for the campaign encourage young adults to get tested to learn their HIV status.
    "The Road to Hope Tour and the 'Does HIV Look Like Me?' campaign are designed to break stereotypes and encourage personal responsibility for knowing your HIV status," said Todd Murray, Executive Director and Founder of Hope's Voice. "OraSure's support of the tour will enable us to educate thousands of young people on the need for HIV testing and prevention. We are thankful for their dedication and support."

Road to Hope tour schedule

April 3, 2005 Georgetown University Washington, DC April 4, 2005 George Washington University Washington, DC April 5, 2005 Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD April 6, 2005 Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA April 7, 2005 Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA April 8, 2005 Shepherd University Shepherdstown, WV April 11, 2005 Randolph-Macon Woman's College Lynchburg, VA April 13, 2005 Oberlin College Oberlin, OH April 14, 2005 University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI April 15, 2005 Michigan State University East Lansing, MI April 18, 2005 University of Illinois at Chicago Chicago, IL April 19, 2005 DePaul University Chicago, IL April 20, 2005 University of Chicago Chicago, IL April 21, 2005 Marquette University Milwaukee, WI April 22, 2005 Luther College Decorah, IL April 25, 2005 St. Louis Community College St. Louis, MO April 26, 2005 Belmont University Nashville, TN April 28, 2005 University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX April 29, 2005 Baylor University Waco, TX May 2, 2005 University of Arizona Tucson, AZ May 4, 2005 San Diego State University San Diego, CA May 6, 2005 Robert Louis Stevenson School Pebble Beach, CA

More information on the Road to Hope Tour can be found at www.hopesvoice.org.

    About OraSure Technologies

    OraSure Technologies develops, manufactures and markets oral fluid specimen collection devices using proprietary oral fluid technologies, diagnostic products including immunoassays and other in vitro diagnostic tests, and other medical devices. These products are sold in the United States as well as internationally to various clinical laboratories, hospitals, clinics, community-based organizations and other public health organizations, distributors, government agencies, physicians' offices, and commercial and industrial entities.
    OraSure Technologies is the leading supplier of oral-fluid collection devices and assays to the life insurance industry and public health markets for the detection of HIV. In addition, the Company supplies oral-fluid testing solutions for drugs of abuse testing. For more information on the Company, please go to http://www.orasure.com.

    About The Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC)

    The Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC) is a national movement with more than 75 chapters at high schools, colleges, and universities across the United States committed to bringing an end to AIDS in the United States and around the world through education, informed advocacy, media work, and direct action.
    With 42 million people infected with HIV/AIDS around the world, an additional 15,000 becoming infected every day, and 8,200 people dying every day, we need effective and science-based prevention programs and inexpensive, life-saving, generic AIDS medications. In order to accomplish these things, SGAC demands access to treatment, complete funding of the U.S. share of the global HIV/AIDS need, comprehensive prevention programs, and debt cancellation.

    About Hope's Voice

    Hope's Voice is a national HIV/AIDS organization committed to promoting the education and prevention of HIV/AIDS to young adults. Hope's Voice uses open dialog and peer-to-peer education, through both speaker appearances of young adults living with HIV/AIDS and progressive programs to send a crucial message: HIV/AIDS does not discriminate. At Hope's Voice we aim to raise awareness and help young adults create the social change that is needed to end this epidemic.
    The organization represents a group of talented and diverse young adults, all living with HIV/AIDS. As their speakers prove, the disease shows no preference towards race, sex, sexuality, demographic or economic status.

--30--RM/ph*

CONTACT: OraSure Technologies, Inc. Media Contacts: Zer0 to 5ive Ron Ticho, 610-360-0205 rticho@orasure.com or Jennifer Moritz, 718-623-0355 jmoritz@0to5.com or Road to Hope: Hope's Voice Todd Murray, 415-552-4677 tmurray@hopesvoice.org

KEYWORD: PENNSYLVANIA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: EDUCATION CONSUMER/HOUSEHOLD PHARMACEUTICAL MEDICAL SOURCE: OraSure Technologies, Inc.

Copyright Business Wire 2005