GENERAL HIGHLIGHTS

Meridian Bioscience, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio (NASDAQ: VIVO) today:

reported second quarter and six months net sales of $33.3 million and $67.6 million, respectively, decreases of 8% and 4% compared to the same periods of the prior fiscal year;

reported second quarter and six months operating income of $11.0 million and $23.2 million, increases of 2% and 6% compared to the same periods of the prior fiscal year;

reported second quarter net earnings of $7.3 million, a decrease of 1% compared to the same period of the prior fiscal year;

reported six months net earnings of $15.3 million, an increase of 4% over the same period of the prior fiscal year;

reported second quarter and six months diluted per share earnings of $0.18 and $0.37, respectively, increases of 0% and 3% over the same periods of the prior fiscal year;

revised downward its fiscal 2009 guidance of per share diluted earnings to $0.77 to $0.81 on net sales of $140 million to $144 million; and

declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.17 per share (indicated annual rate of $0.68 per share), a 21% higher regular quarterly rate compared to the prior fiscal year.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

In Thousands, Except per Share Data

                              Three Months Ended March 31   Six Months Ended March 31                                2009      2008      Change    2009      2008      Change   Net Sales                   $33,280   $36,249   (8)%      $67,573   $70,096   (4)%     Operating Income            11,005    10,738    2%        23,163    21,931    6%       Net Earnings                7,251     7,299     (1)%      15,327    14,755    4%       Diluted Earnings per Share  $ 0.18    $ 0.18    0%        $ 0.37    $ 0.36    3%                                                                                              Cash and Equivalents        $48,306   $45,016                                          Working Capital             87,220    78,055                                           Shareholders' Equity        131,943   121,770                                          Total Assets                145,628   140,712                                           -------------------------------------------------------------------------------  

SECOND QUARTER RESULTS

Net sales for the second fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2009, were $33.3 million as compared to $36.2 million for the same period of the prior fiscal year, a decrease of 8%. Net earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2009 were $7.3 million or $0.18 per diluted share, down 1% and 0%, respectively from the second quarter of fiscal 2008. Diluted common shares outstanding for the second quarters of fiscal 2009 and 2008 were 41,133,000 and 41,038,000, respectively.

YEAR-TO-DATE RESULTS

Net sales for the six months ended March 31, 2009, were $67.6 million as compared to $70.1 million for the same period of the prior fiscal year, a decrease of 4%. Net earnings for the six months ended March 31, 2009, were $15.3 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, up 4% and 3%, respectively, over the same period of fiscal 2008. Diluted common shares outstanding for the six months of fiscal 2009 and 2008 were 41,128,000 and 41,002,000, respectively.

CASH DIVIDEND MATTERS

The Board of Directors declared the regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.17 per share for the second quarter ended March 31, 2009. The dividend is of record April 25, 2009, and payable May 5, 2009. This is an annual indicated cash dividend rate of $0.68 per share, representing a 21% increase over the fiscal 2008 rate of $0.56 per share.

FISCAL 2009 GUIDANCE REVISED DOWNWARD

For the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009, management expects net sales to be in the range of $140 million to $144 million and per share diluted earnings to be between $0.77 and $0.81. Previous guidance called for net sales to be between $151 million and $156 million and per share diluted earnings to be between $0.86 and $0.90. The sales and earnings guidance provided in this press release does not include the impact of any acquisitions the Company might complete during fiscal 2009.

FINANCIAL CONDITION

The Company's financial condition is sound. At March 31, 2009, current assets were $99.6 million, compared to current liabilities of $12.4 million, thereby producing working capital of $87.2 million and a current ratio of 8.0. Cash and equivalents on hand were $48.3 million and the Company had 100% of its borrowing capacity available under its $30,000,000 commercial bank credit facility. The Company has no debt obligations outstanding.

UNAUDITED OPERATING RESULTS

In Thousands, Except per Share Data

The following table sets forth the unaudited comparative operating results of Meridian Bioscience for the interim periods of fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2008.