Ventrex Laboratories Inc. said that the prospectus for itsproposed merger with Hycor Biomedical Inc. will take thesteam out of a stockholder rebellion.

A group of Ventrex shareholders are opposing the proposedacquisition. They say Ventrex is putting up 70 percent of thecombined company and ending up with only 28 percent of thestock. "It is a bad deal for Ventrex shareholders," said JamesVigue, president of Firstmark Capital Corp, which isrepresenting the dissidents.

Stuart Welsh, Ventrex's chief financial officer, predicted thatVentrex's prospectus, due out in the next few months, would"clarify issues" and diffuse the disagreement.

The dissenting group currently owns only 5.2 percent ofVentrex. But Firstmark intends to recruit other shareholders,said Vigue. He refused to disclose details of the group'sstrategy, but would not rule out a proxy battle.

Ventrex (NASDAQ:VTRX), based in Portland, Maine, marketsand develops diagnostic kits. Hycor (NASDAQ:HYBD) is based inGarden Grove, Calif.

-- Rachel Nowak Washington Bureau Chief

(c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.