Whittaker Corp. of Los Angeles is splitting into twocompanies, a biotechnology unit and an aerospace unit.

Whittaker Bioproducts Inc., based in Walkersville, Md., willbecome a free-standing company called BioWhittaker Inc. Theaerospace unit will retain the Whittaker Corp. name.

By November, Whittaker hopes to complete a tax-free exchangeof stock in which shareholders will receive one share each inBioWhittaker and the new aerospace company for each share ofcurrently held Whittaker stock (NYSE:WKR). There are 7.5million shares outstanding.

Shares of BioWhittaker, which will have an estimated $40million in sales in the fiscal year ending Oct. 31, will alsotrade on the New York Stock Exchange.

Whittaker shares closed Wednesday at $19.50, up 25 cents.

Whittaker Bioproducts is developing immunodiagnosticproducts and the company said it is the first to make cellcultures for clinical laboratories, the first to develop acommercial immunoassay and the first to get Food and DrugAdministration clearance to market a diagnostic test thatdetects antibodies to Helicobacter pylori, the bacteriumassociated with chronic gastritis, peptic ulcers and gastriculcers.

Whittaker Bioproducts recently acquired 3M DiagnosticSystems Inc., which had annual revenues of about $8 million.3M makes diagnostic tests for allergies and Lyme disease.

Whittaker began business in the aircraft industry almost 50years ago and became a conglomerate in the early 1980s.Beginning in 1986, Whittaker began "de-diversifying," butretained its aerospace and biotechnology units "because of thepotential that we saw in each business," said Edward Muller,Whittaker's vice president and chief administrative officer.

-- Kris Herbst BioWorld Washington Bureau

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