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Biotech / Medical : Anthrax test from VLPI -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mtnres who wrote (60)	10/26/2001 3:45:36 PM
From: who cares?	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 142

Who could have seen this coming. It's so surprising. Vital Living's Customer Meijer Denies Ordering Anthrax Test Matthews, North Carolina, Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Vital Living Products, Inc. said yesterday that Meijer Inc., a Michigan-based retail chain that operates 152 supermarkets, would begin selling its $20 do-it-yourself anthrax test kits. Meijer said the announcement, which spurred a 17 percent rise in Vital's share price, isn't true. ``That's absolutely inaccurate,'' said John Zimmerman, a spokesman for Meijer said in an interview. ``We have not made any decision to carry this product. We haven't seen this product.'' Vital, which also makes water-treatment and testing products, said in a press release distributed over the Internet and by PR Newswire that Meijer ``plans to sell'' the company's PurTest Anthrax Test in its pharmacy departments. Vital Living shares gained 11 cents to 76 cents as 4.8 million shares changed hands after the announcement was made. Today, shares fell 4 cents, or 5.3 percent, to 72 cents. Vital Living President Donald Podrebarac today said the supermarket chain hasn't committed to buying the anthrax test kits, though he said Meijer knew about the press release before it went out. ``We do not have a purchase order,'' he said. Zimmerman said Meijer, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, first learned about Vital Living's press release from a reporter. ``Vital Living should not have used our name in promoting this product,'' said Zimmerman. On Monday, Vital Living's shares soared 28 percent after the company said Ace Hardware Stores agreed to carry the anthrax test kits nationwide at its 5,100 stores. Ace later denied ordering the test kits. Both Meijer and Ace Hardware already buy Vital Living's water purity test kits. Ace spokeswoman Paula Erickson said her company is still reviewing the anthrax test and wants to hear from government agencies before deciding to place an order. Vital shares fell 57 percent Wednesday after Bloomberg News reported that Ace hadn't ordered the kits. Bloomberg also reported that Podrebarac said that test's reliability hasn't been verified by an independent laboratory. Shares Decline Matthews, North Carolina-based Vital also said it will sell shares for 7 cents a piece in a private placement to raise the $750,000 it needs to complete the development of the anthrax tests. The price is below the market price because it was arranged earlier this month when shares were trading at a lower level, said Podrebarac. Vital Living's new private placement will more than double the shares outstanding to 17.8 million from 7.3 million. The company's net worth on June 30 was a negative $2.3 million. Wagner Noble & Co., its outside auditor, warned in February that there was ``substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.'' At Monday's high price of $2.03, the shares were up forty-fold from Oct. 1, when they closed at 5 cents. --David Evans in Los Angeles (