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TWST: Can we start with an introduction and up date on Axis Shield (London: ASD.L)?

Mr. Lien: Axis-Shield was formed in 1999 by the merger of the Norwegian company Axis Biochemicals and the Scottish company Shield Diagnostics. We have a head office in Dundee, Scotland, a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange, and a secondary listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Our primary focus is in-vitro medical diagnostics and we have three main business units. One is for laboratory diagnostics, focusing on unique new diagnostic markers, particularly in the fields of cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases and alcohol abuse. The second area is physician’s office diagnostics, or Point of Care diagnostics, where we have an instrument platform out in the marketplace with four markers and a large R&D project to develop our next generation point of care platform. The third area is direct distribution, which is in what we consider to be our home markets of the UK and the Nordic countries.

TWST: Can you elaborate on some of those products getting ready for launch?

Mr. Lien: We will launch two new versions of homocysteine, which is a new marker for cardiovascular disease. It’s one of our biggest products in Axis-Shield. We have adapted our proprietary patented technology to a number of instrument platforms and have OEM agreements with most of the bigger players in diagnostics. It is currently being adapted for Dade Behring instruments and for Instrument Laboratory Inc. These new tests will be in addition to what we already have on the market, and this includes products for Abbott Laboratories, BioRad Laboratories and Diagnostic Products Corporation. Other important launches during 2003 include new tests for testosterone and BNP (a heart failure marker), both on behalf of Abbott.

TWST: Do you predominantly work with the OEMs or do you have your own distribution arm direct to market?

Mr. Lien: We have very different strategies for laboratory diagnostics and point of care diagnostics. In laboratory diagnostics, we find that the big companies with large instrument platforms are so dominant on the marketplace that we don’t really see any value for us going in and competing with them. But as long as we have strong patent protection on our own markers, we can secure very good partnerships with the big companies as they are always looking for new products to extend their instrument menus. This creates a win-win situation for both of us in this segment. When it comes to point of care, it is very much the opposite; no one really dominates this marketplace and there is a big need for new technologies that can provide rapid cost effective and accurate answers. So, in this area we have our own instrument platform, our own trademarks, and also our own distribution set-up.

TWST: Can you just run us through the main milestones and objectives over the next 12 to 18 months so we can gauge your progress?

Mr. Lien: The key objectives for us are to get these new products out of the door in 2003 and 2004. It is then about getting new markers into point of care after the instrument is launched in mid 2004. That’s more or less our entire focus at this stage. Of course, we also need to make sure we continue to be successful with the products we already have out in the marketplace.

TWST: Can you take us through some of the important highlights on your financials that investors should be aware of?

Mr. Lien: Yes, looking at it right now, we are priced at something like five times our EBITDA before R&D, a bit more than one times equity, and a bit more than one times sales. At the moment, I really have no opinion about whether our pricing is high or low compared with the rest of the market because other institutions or other people are much better at evaluating that than I am. But I would just point to the fact that at the moment we are not getting any price benefit from the investments we are making and I would assume that if we continue to be successful in what we doing, which I believe we will be, then at some stage down the road we are going to get credit for this which then will be reflected in our price.