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                                                                   EXHIBIT 10.8

                                  DADE BEHRING
                         2002 DIRECTOR STOCK OPTION PLAN

     1.   PURPOSE OF OPTION PLAN. This Dade Behring 2002 Director Stock Option
Plan (the "OPTION PLAN") of Dade Behring Holdings, Inc. (the "COMPANY") is
designed to attract and retain individuals who are not employees of the Company
or its Subsidiaries to serve as directors of the Company through grants of
Options by the Company to Directors.

     2.   DEFINITIONS. Certain terms used in this Option Plan have the meanings
set forth in Appendix I.

     3.   GRANT OF OPTIONS.

     The Options granted under this Option Plan shall be in such number and form
and upon such terms and conditions as set forth below:

     (a)  NUMBER OF OPTIONS. Options for Twenty-Five Thousand (25,000) Option
          Shares shall be granted as of the Effective Date to each Director.

     (b)  OPTION PRICE. The Option exercise price per share ("Option Price") for
          each Option granted as of the Effective Date shall be fourteen dollars
          seventy-two cents ($14.72).

     (c)  EXERCISABILITY. The Options at each date set forth below will vest and
          thus become exercisable with respect to the cumulative number of
          Option Shares set forth opposite such date provided the respective
          Director has not had a Termination Date prior to such date:

<Table>
<Caption>
                                CUMULATIVE NUMBER
                  DATE           OF OPTION SHARES
             ---------------    -----------------
             <S>                     <C>
             October 3, 2003          8,334

             October 3, 2004         16,667

             October 3, 2005         25,000
</Table>

     (d)  EXPIRATION DATE. Except as otherwise set forth herein, vested and
          exercisable Options will expire on the earliest of (i) the six month
          anniversary of the Director's Termination Date if the Director's
          Termination Date occurs as a result of death or disability; (ii) if
          the Director's Termination Date occurs other than as a result of death
          or disability, then on the ninetieth (90th) day after the Director's
          Termination Date; or (iii) the tenth anniversary of the date of grant;
          provided that any portion of the Options which has not vested on or
          prior to the Termination

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          Date shall expire on the Termination Date and may not be exercised
          under any circumstance.

     (e)  VESTING OF OPTION SHARES. Option Shares shall be fully vested
          immediately upon exercise of the vested and exercisable Option to
          which such Option Shares were subject.

     (f)  PROCEDURE FOR EXERCISE. At any time after all or any portion of the
          Options have become vested and exercisable with respect to any Option
          Shares and prior to their expiration date (as described in Section
          3(d) above), a Director may exercise all or a portion of such Option
          with respect to the Option Shares by providing notice of exercise to
          the Company or its designee in such manner designated by the Company
          together with payment in full. Payment may be made by delivery of (i)
          cash or its equivalent (e.g., by check), (ii) other shares of Common
          Stock (by either actual delivery of Common Stock or by attestation -
          presenting satisfactory proof of beneficial ownership of such Common
          Stock; provided such shares of Common Stock were held for at least six
          months (or such other period established by generally accepted
          accounting principles) if such shares were received under this Option
          Plan or any other equity compensation plan of the Company) in the
          amount or value equal to the product of the Option Price multiplied by
          the number of Option Shares to be acquired plus the amount of any
          additional federal, state and local taxes required to be withheld by
          reason of the exercise of the Option, or (iii) partly as set forth in
          (i) and partly as set forth in (ii). Alternatively, if the Common
          Stock is listed on the Nasdaq stock market or a national securities
          exchange, payment of the Option Price multiplied by the number of
          Option Shares to be acquired plus the amount of any additional
          federal, state and local taxes required to be withheld may be made, to
          the extent permissible by law, by a "cashless exercise" through a
          third party.

     (g)  NONQUALIFIED OPTIONS. Options are not intended to be "incentive stock
          options" within the meaning of Section 422A of the Internal Revenue
          Code of 1986, as amended.

     4.   ADMINISTRATION OF THE OPTION PLAN. Without amending this Option Plan,
Options or other awards may be granted to eligible persons who are foreign
nationals on such terms and conditions different from those specified in this
Option Plan as may, in the judgment of the Board, be necessary or desirable to
foster and promote achievement of the purposes of this Option Plan and, in
furtherance of such purposes, the Board may make such modifications, amendments,
procedures, subplans and the like as may be necessary or advisable to comply
with provisions of laws or regulations in other countries or jurisdictions.

     5.   RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFER. A Director or the Director's estate or heirs
are entitled to exercise the Options. The Directors may transfer Options to
family members. For this purpose the term "family member" includes any child,
stepchild, grandchild, parent, stepparent, grandparent, spouse, former spouse,
sibling, niece, nephew, mother-in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law,
daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law, including adoptive
relationships, any

                                 - Page 2 of 4 -
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person sharing the Director's household (other than a tenant or employee), a
trust in which these persons have more than fifty percent of the beneficial
interest, a foundation in which these persons (or the Director) control the
management of assets, and any other entity in which these persons (or the
Director) own more than fifty percent of the voting interests.

     6.   LIMITATION ON THE AGGREGATE NUMBER OF SHARES. The number of shares of
Common Stock issued under this Option Plan shall not exceed, in the aggregate,
One Hundred Fifty Thousand (150,000) shares of Common Stock (as such number is
equitably adjusted pursuant to Section 8 hereof).

     7.   REGISTRATION RIGHTS. Each Director shall have rights with respect to
Option Shares no less favorable than those rights provided to Management Holders
with respect to Registrable Common Stock in the Registration Rights Agreement.

     8.   ADJUSTMENT FOR CHANGE IN COMMON STOCK. In the event of a
reorganization, recapitalization, stock split, stock dividend, spin-off,
combination, corporate exchange, merger, consolidation or other change in the
Common Stock or any distribution to shareholders of Common Stock other than
regular cash dividends or any transaction determined in good faith by the Board
to be similar to the foregoing, the Board shall make appropriate equitable
changes in the number and type of shares authorized by this Option Plan, the
number and type of shares covered by outstanding Options and the Option Prices
specified therein and the maximum number of Shares for which Options may be
granted during a calendar year to a Director.

     9.   NO CONTRACT OF APPOINTMENT AND STOCKHOLDER STATUS. Neither the
adoption of this Option Plan nor the grant of any Options, nor ownership of
Options or Common Stock shall be deemed or construed to obligate the Company to
continue the appointment or engagement of any Director for any particular
period. No Option confers upon any Director any rights as a stockholder of the
Company prior to the date on which the Director fulfills all conditions for
receipt of such rights.

     10.  TAXES. To the extent required by law, the Company shall be entitled to
withhold (or secure payment from the Director in lieu of withholding) the amount
of any withholding or other tax due from the Director with respect to any amount
payable and/or shares of Common Stock issuable under this Option Plan.

     11.  SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS. The Plan shall be binding on all successors
and assigns of the Company and a Director, including without limitation, the
estate of such Director and the executor, administrator or trustee of such
estate, or any receiver or trustee in bankruptcy or representative of the
Director's creditors.

     12.  TERMINATION AND AMENDMENT. The Board at any time may suspend or
terminate this Option Plan and make such additions or amendments as it deems
advisable under this Option Plan, except that no such action shall reduce the
number of Option Shares subject to outstanding Options granted to any Director
or adversely to the Director change the terms and conditions of such outstanding
Options without the Director's consent (or if the Director is not alive, the
consent of the affected beneficiary of the Director).

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     13.  DELAWARE LAW TO GOVERN. This Option Plan shall be governed by and
construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware without regard to
internal conflict rules.

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                                   APPENDIX I

     "BOARD" means the Company's board of directors.

     "COMMON STOCK" means the Company's class of capital stock designed as
Common Stock, par value one cent ($0.01) per share, or, in the event that the
outstanding shares of Common Stock are after the Effective Date recapitalized,
converted into or exchanged for different stock or securities of the Company,
such other stock or securities.

     "DIRECTOR" means a director of the Company on the Effective Date who is not
an employee of the Company or any Subsidiary.

     "EFFECTIVE DATE" means October 24, 2002.

     "FAIR MARKET VALUE" of a share of Common Stock means on a given date (a) if
the principal market for the Common Stock is the Nasdaq stock market, a national
securities exchange or other recognized national market or service reporting
sales, the mean between the highest and lowest reported sale prices of a share
of Common Stock on the date of the determination on the principal market on
which the Common Stock is then listed or admitted to trading, (b) if the Common
Stock is not listed on the Nasdaq stock market, a national securities exchange
or other recognized national market or service reporting sales, the mean between
the closing high bid and low asked prices of a share of Common Stock on the date
of the determination as reported by the system then regarded as the most
reliable source of such quotations, (c) if the Common Stock is listed on a
domestic stock exchange or market or quoted in a domestic market or service, but
there are not reported sales or quotations, as the case may be, on the given
date, the value determined pursuant to (a) or (b) above using the reported sale
prices or quotations on the last previous day on which so reported or (d) if
none of the foregoing clauses apply, the fair market value of a share of Common
Stock as determined in good faith by the Board and stated in writing in a notice
delivered to the holders of the Common Stock involved.

     "MANAGEMENT HOLDERS" shall have the meaning assigned to such term in the
Registration Rights Agreement.

     "OPTION" means any option enabling the holder thereof to purchase any class
of Common Stock from the Company granted pursuant to the provisions of this
Option Plan.

     "OPTION SHARES" with respect to a Director, means Common Stock issuable to
such Director upon exercise of any Options granted hereunder.

     "REGISTRABLE COMMON STOCK" shall have the meaning assigned to such term in
the Registration Rights Agreement.

     "REGISTRATION RIGHTS AGREEMENT" means the Registration Rights Agreement
attached as Exhibit 10.2 to the Company's Form 10 Registration Statement.

     "SUBSIDIARY" shall mean (a) any corporation of which the outstanding equity
interests having at least a majority of votes entitled to be cast in the
election of the directors under

                                       A-1
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ordinary circumstances shall at the time be owned, directly or indirectly, by
the Company or (b) any other type of business entity of which at least a
majority of the voting interest under ordinary circumstances is at the time,
directly or indirectly, owned by such the Company.

     "TERMINATION DATE" means the date the Director ceases to be a director,
employee or consultant to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries.

                                       A-2
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                                  DADE BEHRING
                         2002 DIRECTOR STOCK OPTION PLAN
                           ACCEPTANCE & ACKNOWLEDGMENT

To:  _______________________

     By signing this form and returning it to Dade Behring Holdings, Inc. (the
"Company") you confirm the existence and acceptance of the options to purchase a
total of _________ shares of the Company's Common Stock, par value $0.01 per
share, at an exercise price of $_____ pursuant to the grant made on __________
pursuant to the Company's 2002 Director Stock Option Plan (the "Option Plan"), a
copy of which is attached.

     You represent that when you exercise the Options (as defined in the Option
Plan) you will be purchasing Common Stock (as defined in the Option Plan) for
your own account and not on behalf of others. You understand and acknowledge
that federal and state securities laws govern and restrict your right to offer,
sell or otherwise dispose of any Common Stock acquired upon exercise of Options
unless your offer, sale or other disposition thereof is registered under the
Securities Act of 1933 and state securities laws or, in the opinion of the
Company's counsel, such offer, sale or other disposition is exempt from
registration thereunder. You agree that you will not offer, sell or otherwise
dispose of any Common Stock acquired upon exercise of Options in any manner
which would violate or cause the Company to violate the Securities Act of 1933,
the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder or any other state or federal
law. You further understand that the certificates for any Common Stock acquired
upon exercise of Options may bear such legends as the Company deems necessary or
desirable in connection with the Securities Act of 1933 or other rules,
regulations or laws.

     By signing below and returning this form to the Company, you acknowledge
your full understanding of, and agreement with, all of the terms and conditions
of the Option Plan (as it may be amended or modified from time to time in
accordance with its terms) as applied to your Options and any shares of Common
Stock issuable upon exercise of your Options and acknowledge the receipt of a
copy of the Option Plan.

                                             Sincerely,

                                             Dade Behring Holdings, Inc.

                                             By:
                                                --------------------------------
                                             Its:

ACCEPTED AND ACKNOWLEDGED

---------------------------------
Name:

Date:
     ----------------------------

Please retain a copy of this form for your own records.