PHILADELPHIA, PA, January 31, 2006 - Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (AMEX: BIO and BIOb) announced today the release of nineteen high-quality infrared databases including:

Alcohols and Phenols
Aldehydes
Amino Acids and Peptides
Anhydrides and Lactones
Carboxylic Acids
Dyes, Alkynes, and Azo Compounds
Esters
Explosive Materials
HAZMAT
Hydrocarbons and Halogenated Hydrocarbons
Hydrocarbons
Ketones
Nucleic Acids, Nucelosides, and Nucleotides
Organometallics, Inorganics, Silanes, Boranes, and Deuterium Compounds Phosphorus Compounds Polymeric Compounds Steroids Sugars and Carbohydrates Sulfur Compounds

With the addition of these databases, Bio-Rad now offers over 95 standalone IR spectral databases. Bio-Rad's spectral databases are used by scientists worldwide in the verification, classification, identification of chemical substances across multiple areas of research, such as pharmaceutical, forensic, environmental, materials sciences, and polymers. For complete details on each new database, please go to:
www.knowitall.com/newdatabases.

Marie Scandone, Database Product Manager, Bio-Rad Informatics commented, "We have carefully designed these new collections by focusing on specific chemical classes of compounds. In doing so, researchers now have an even wider selection of libraries from which to choose those that are most relevant to their studies. New collections also of note are the Explosive Materials and HAZMAT databases. Both databases could be used by researchers to identify potentially hazardous and dangerous substances."

"With the release of these databases, Bio-Rad continues their long-standing commitment in providing high-quality, comprehensive spectral data collections to the scientific community", said Ms. Scandone.

Bio-Rad's Sadtler Database Solutions for Spectroscopy have become industry standards in both commercial and academic laboratories worldwide with a unique blend of spectral data, along with state-of-the-art database building, management, search, analysis, prediction, and reporting tools. Their spectral collection contains over 885,000 spectra and includes IR, NMR, MS, and Raman data covering pure compounds and a broad range of commercial products used in pharmaceutical, forensic, polymer, and environmental chemistry.

About Bio-Rad

Bio-Rad's Informatics Division (www.informatics.bio-rad.com) specializes in state-of-the-art software and database solutions for the pharmaceutical, biotech, and chemical industries. Bio-Rad is the leading publisher of fully verified spectral databases, cheminformatics and spectroscopy software, and decision support systems for drug discovery. The company's award-winning KnowItAll Informatics System offers a fully integrated environment with flexible, expandable software and database solutions for spectroscopy (MS, NMR, IR, Raman, spectral data management), cheminformatics, in silico ADME/Tox prediction, and lead optimization.

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (www.bio-rad.com) is a multinational manufacturer and distributor of life science research, clinical diagnostics and informatics products. It is based in Hercules, California, and serves more than 70,000 research and industry customers worldwide through a network of more than 30 wholly owned subsidiary offices.

Various statements made within this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" for purposes of the Securities and Exchange Commission's "safe harbor" provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The forward-looking statements contained herein involve risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially from the Company's expectations.

Contact Information

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Informatics Division
3316 Spring Garden Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Phone: +1 215 382 7800
www.knowitall.com

For more information on this press release:
Name: Deborah Kernan
Phone: +1 215 349 7366
E-mail: deborah_kernan@bio-rad.com