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                                                                    EXHIBIT 99.2



CONTACT:  CATHERINE A. PYTEL
          508-347-4258


                          NETOPTIX CORPORATION TO SELL
                             LEISEGANG MEDICAL, INC.
                        AND WOMEN'S HEALTHCARE BUSINESSES


     STURBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, DECEMBER 14, 1999 - NetOptix Corporation (NASDAQ
National Market: OPTX) today announced that it has agreed to sell its Leisegang
Medical, Inc. (LMI) and related women's health businesses and related assets to
CooperSurgical, Inc. (CSI), a unit of The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE/PCX:
COO). The transaction includes NetOptix operating units in Germany, Leisegang
GmbH, and Canada, Galenica Inc., as well as the LMI operations in Boca Raton,
Florida. The purchase price is approximately $10 million, payable in cash, with
a scheduled closing on January 31, 2000.

     LMI, Leisegang GmbH and Galenica, which design, manufacture and distribute
diagnostic and surgical instruments and other precision instrumentation for the
women's healthcare market, currently have combined annual revenues of about $15
million.

     NetOptix intends to use the net proceeds, after payment or provision for
transaction costs, closing escrows and retained liabilities of the LMI business,
to reduce debt and to fund research and development activities and additional
production capacity for its Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexer (DWDM)
business, operated through its Optical Filter Corporation (OFC) subsidiary in
Natick, Massachusetts, and its OFC GmbH subsidiary in Germany.

     NetOptix Corporation is headquartered in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. OFC and
OFC GmbH subsidiaries design, manufacture and market a broad range of optical
components and systems that incorporate recent advances in phototonic technology
and optical coating. OFC Corporation has manufacturing locations in Natick,
Massachusetts and Keene, New Hampshire. The NetOptix web address is
www.netoptix.com.

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     The Cooper Companies, Inc. and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and
market specialty healthcare products. CooperSurgical, Inc., headquartered in
Shelton, Connecticut, markets diagnostic products, surgical instruments and
accessories for the gynecological market. CooperVision, Inc., headquartered in
Irvine, California, with manufacturing facilities in Huntington Beach,
California, Rochester, New York, Toronto, Canada and Hamble, England, markets a
broad range of contact lenses for the vision care market. Corporate offices are
located in Irvine and Pleasanton, California. Cooper's web address is
www.coopercos.com.

     FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS. This press release contains "forward-looking
statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
To identify forward-looking statements, look for words like "believes",
"expects", "may", "will", "should", "seeks", "approximately", "intends",
"plans", "estimates" or "anticipates", and similar words or phrases. Discussion
of strategy, plans or intentions often contains forward-looking statements.
These, and all forward-looking statements, necessarily depend on assumptions,
dates or methods that may be incorrect or imprecise.

     Events, among others, that could cause actual results and future actions to
differ materially from those described by or contemplated in the forward-looking
statements include major changes in business conditions and the economy, loss of
key senior management, major disruptions in the operation of the OFC
manufacturing facilities or delays in delivery of new production equipment, new
competition or technologies, significant disruptions caused by their parties
failing to address the Year 2000 issue or by problems with our Year 2000
compliance program, foreign currency exchange exposure, investments in research
and development and other start-up projects, regulatory issues, significant
environmental clean-up costs above those already accrued, litigation costs,
costs of business divestitures, and other factors described in the NetOptix
Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including a section in the Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 1998.


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