Research recently published in the August 7, 2004 edition of The Lancet has indicated the effectiveness of several of STERIS's proprietary cleaning and sterilization technologies in inactivating prions. Until now, it has not been possible to inactivate prions without damaging contaminated surfaces. Prions are extremely difficult to inactivate from the surfaces of surgical instruments or other items that may be contaminated.

As a result of this research, the Company's Healthcare segment has introduced a new product in the United Kingdom (U.K.). The product is a cleansing solution designed to be added to the washing-disinfecting cycle of washers that decontaminate surgical instruments after use, and will be sold under the brand name Hamo 100 PID (Prion Inactivation Detergent).

In addition, the Life Sciences segment is re-introducing a cleaning solution currently on the market that, as part of this research, has been proven to be effective against prions. The product, CIP 100, is a leading solution used to clean pharmaceutical and biotechnology production equipment. The Company is in the process of exploring additional commercialization opportunities for this and other tested technologies.

In the process of its work with prions, STERIS also helped develop standardized testing and validation protocols that were used to confirm the validity of the test results. These validation protocols are being made available to test the effectiveness of various other decontamination methods against prions to advance research in these specialized areas.