**Exhibit10.21/A**

**EMPLOYMENTAGREEMENT**

THISAGREEMENT, made and entered into as of this 1st day of December, 2003, by andbetween Immucor, Inc., a Georgia corporation with its executive offices at 3130Gateway Drive, Norcross, Georgia 30071 (herein referred to as “Employer” or the“Company”), and Gioacchino De Chirico, residing at 1992 Winchelsea Court,Dunwoody, Georgia 30338 (herein referred to as “Employee”).  This agreement supersedes any and all prioragreements between the two parties.

WITNESSETH

WHEREAS,the parties hereto desire to enter into an agreement for Employer’s employmentof Employee on the terms and conditions hereinafter stated.

NOW,THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the mutual covenants andagreements herein contained, the parties hereby agree as follows:

# 1.                                       RelationshipEstablished

Employer hereby employs Employee as President and COOof Employer to perform the services and duties normally and customarilyassociated with Employee’s position, such duties as specified in the Employer’sbylaws, and such other duties as may from time to time be specified by theEmployer’s Board of Directors.  Employeewill be retained in this position during the term of his employment under thisEmployment Agreement, and hereby agrees to perform such services and duties inthis capacity.

# 2.                                       Extentof Services

Employee shall devote substantially all his businesstime, attention, skill and efforts to the performance of his duties hereunder,and shall use his best efforts to promote the success of the Employer’sbusiness.  Employer recognizes thatEmployee has agreed to employment at Employers offices located in Norross,Georgia.  Should Employer’s executiveoffices be relocated to, or if Employer otherwise shall require that Employeework at, a place greater than thirty (30) miles from Employee’s principalresidence noted in Section 13(b) hereof, then Employee shall have the right toterminate his employment hereunder and such termination shall be deemed to be atermination under Section 3(c) hereof for all purposes hereunder.

# 3.                                       Termof Employment

Employee’s employment hereunder shall commence onDecember 1, 2003 (hereinafter called the “Effective Date,” and shall continuefor a period of five (5) years, unless sooner terminated by the first to occurof the following:

## (a)                                  Thedeath or complete disability of Employee. “Complete disability”, as usedherein, shall mean the inability of Employee, due to illness, accident or anyother

----

## physical or mental incapacity, to perform theservices provided for hereunder for an aggregate of 12 months during the termhereof.

## (b)                                 Thedischarge of Employee by Employer for Cause. Employee’s discharge shall be “for Cause” if due to any of thefollowing:

### (i)                                     Employee’sdishonesty,

### (ii)                                  Anact of defalcation committed by Employee,

### (iii)                               Employee’scontinuing inability or refusal to perform reasonable duties assigned to himhereunder (unless such refusal occurs following the occurrence of a Change ofControl, as defined herein) or

### (iv)                              Employee’smoral turpitude.

Disability because of illness or accident or any otherphysical or mental disability shall not constitute a basis for discharge forCause.

## (c)                                  Thedischarge of Employee by Employer without Cause (which shall be deemed to haveoccurred if Employee’s employment hereunder terminates under Section 7 hereof).

## (d)                                 AtEmployee’s request and with the express prior written consent of Employer.

## (e)                                  AtEmployee’s election upon 120 days notice (or such lesser notice as Employer mayaccept), without the express prior written consent of Employer.

## (f)                                    Atthe end of the term of the Agreement, or any extension thereof, if either theEmployer or Employee gives 60 days notice to the other of non-renewal of theAgreement.

If not sooner terminated under the provisions ofSections 3(a) through 3(f) above, the term of Employee’s employment hereundershall automatically renew for an additional period of five (5) years at eachannual anniversary date of this agreement.

# 4.                                       Compensation

## (a)                                  Subjectto the provisions of Section 4(e), Employer will pay to Employee as basecompensation for the services to be performed by him hereunder the basecompensation specified on Schedule A attached hereto.  Schedule A may be amended from time to timeupon the parties’ revision and re-execution thereof, whereupon the amendedSchedule A shall be attached hereto; provided, however, the amended Schedule Ashall be effective upon such re-execution, whether or not it is attachedhereto.

## (b)                                 TheEmployee may be entitled to additional bonus compensation as may be determinedby the Board of Directors of Employer from time to time, any such determinationto be final, binding, conclusive on Employee and all other persons.

## (c)                                  Inthe event Employee’s employment shall terminate under Section 3(c) hereof, theEmployee shall be paid an amount equal to the Average Annual

----

## Compensation payable to Employee underSchedule A for the remainder of the term of this Agreement in accordance withthe payment schedule set forth on Schedule A, to be paid over the remainder ofthe term of this Agreement following termination. For purposes of this Section,“Average Annual Compensation” shall mean the Employee’s annual basecompensation payable to Employee under Schedule A in accordance with thepayment schedule set forth on Schedule A together with his Average Bonus. “AverageBonus” shall mean the average bonus paid to employee over the last two years inwhich the Employee was eligible to receive a bonus or such lesser number ofyears in which Employee was eligible to receive a bonus.

## (d)                                 Aslong as Employee is employed hereunder, Employer, at its election, will either(a) supply to Employee an automobile of a type consistent with his duties andsalary, and will pay the reasonable expenses of operating, maintaining theautomobile and insuring the automobile and its driver, or (b) provide Employeean automobile allowance as specified on Schedule A attached hereto, and willpay the reasonable expenses of operating, maintaining the automobile andinsuring the automobile and its driver. Schedule A may be amended from time totime upon the parties’ revision and re-execution thereof whereupon the amendedSchedule A shall be attached hereto; provided, however, the amended Schedule Ashall be effective upon re-execution, whether or not it is attached hereto.

## (e)                                  Inthe event Employee’s employment shall terminate under Section 3(a), 3(b), 3(d),3(e) or 3(f) hereof, all of Employer’s obligations to Employee hereunder willcease automatically and Employee shall only be entitled to compensation accruedthrough the date of termination.

# 5.                                       Expenses

Employee shall be entitled to receive reimbursementfor, or payment directly by the Employer of, all reasonable expenses incurredby Employee at the request of the Employer in the performance of his dutiesunder this Agreement, provided that Employee accounts therefor in writing andthat such expenses are ordinary and necessary business expenses of the Employerwithin the meaning of Section 162 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 asamended.

# 6.                                       Insuranceand Other Fringe Benefits

Employer will provide Employee with (a) healthinsurance, dental insurance, long-term disability insurance, paid vacations andother fringe benefits in the form and in dollar amounts substantiallyequivalent to the benefits provided to the Employer’s other employees in asimilar position and with similar responsibilities, and (b) life insurance forthe benefit of the Employee and/or the Employer, as provided on Schedule Battached hereto.  Schedule B may be amendedfrom time to time upon the parties’ revision and re-execution thereof,whereupon the amended Schedule B shall be attached hereto; provided, however,the amended Schedule B shall be effective upon such re-execution, whether ornot it is attached hereto.

----

7.                                       Terminationof Employment Upon Sale or Change of Control of Employer’s Business; Severance

## (a)                                  Notwithstandinganything to the contrary contained in this Agreement, either Employer orEmployee may terminate Employee’s employment hereunder if any of the followingevents occur:

### (i)                                     Saleof Employer’s Assets.  The sale ofall or substantially all of Employer’s assets to a single purchaser or group ofassociated purchasers, whether in a single transaction or a series of relatedtransactions.

### (ii)                                  Saleof Employer’s Shares.  The sale,exchange, or other disposition, in one transaction, or in a series of relatedtransactions, of twenty percent (20%) or more of Employer’s outstanding sharesof capital stock.

### (iii)                               Mergeror Consolidation.  The merger orconsolidation of Employer in a transaction or series of transactions in whichEmployer’s shareholders receive or retain less than fifty percent (50%) of theoutstanding voting shares of the new or surviving corporation.

### (iv)                              OtherChanges in Control.  The occurrenceof any change in control of the Employer within the meaning of federalsecurities law.

## (b)                                 If,within 60 days after an event described in Sections 7(a)(i), (a)(ii), (a)(iii)or (a)(iv) (a “Change of Control”), the Employee voluntarily terminates hisemployment with the Employer, or if within two years after a Change of ControlEmployer terminates Employee’s employment (whether for Cause or without Cause)the Employer terminates Employee’s employment, then Employer shall pay Employee(instead of the amount specified in Section 4(c), if any, but together with theamount specified in Section 7(d), if any) an amount equal to five times theEmployee’s Average Annual Compensation (as defined below), to be paid in asingle payment at the time of termination. In consideration of such payment andhis employment hereunder through the date of such termination, Employee agreesto remain bound by the provisions of this agreement which specifically relateto periods, activities or obligations upon or subsequent to the termination ofEmployee’s employment.

## (c)                                  Upona Change of Control, Employee’s existing options under any Immucor Inc. (the “Company”)option plan, including the Company’s 1990 Stock Option Plan, the Company’s 1995Stock Option Plan, and the Company’s 1998 Stock Option Plan, if any, shall immediatelyvest and become exercisable in full and shall remain exercisable for the fullterm stated in such option plan or in any stock option agreement between theCompany and the Employee.

## (d)                                 If,within 60 days after a Change of Control, either the Employee voluntarilyterminates his employment with the Employer or the Employer terminates Employee’semployment other than for Cause, then Employer shall pay to Employee anoutplacement assistance benefit for the purpose of assisting Employee withcounseling, travel and other expenses related to finding new employment.  Such amount shall be paid in cash in theamount specified on Schedule A attached hereto. Schedule A may be amended from time to time upon the parties’ revisionand re-execution thereof whereupon the amended Schedule A 

----

## shall be attached hereto; provided, however,the amended Schedule A shall be effective upon such re-execution, whether ornot it is attached hereto.

## (e)                                  Forpurposes of this Section, “Average Annual Compensation” shall mean the Employee’sannual base compensation payable to Employee under Schedule A in accordancewith the payment schedule set forth on Schedule A together with his AverageBonus.  “Average Bonus” shall mean theaverage of the bonuses paid to Employee over the last two years (or such lessernumber of years in which Employee was eligible to receive a bonus) in which theEmployee was eligible to receive a bonus.

## (f)                                    *Certain Additional Payments by Employer*.  In the event that Employee becomes entitledto severance benefits or any other benefits or payments in connection with thisAgreement, whether pursuant to the terms of this Agreement or otherwise(collectively, the “Total Benefits”) and (ii) any of the Total Benefits will besubject to the excise tax imposed pursuant to Section 4999 of the InternalRevenue Code (“Excise Tax’), which tax may be imposed if the payments made toEmployee are deemed to be “excess parachute payments” within the meaning ofSection 280G of the Code, then Employer shall pay to Employee an additionalamount (the “Gross-Up Payment”) such that the net amount retained by Employee,after deduction of any Excise Tax on the Total Benefits and any federal, stateand local income taxes, Excise Tax, and FICA and Medicare withholding taxesupon the payment provided for by this Section, will be equal to the TotalBenefits so that Employee shall be, after payment of all taxes, in the samefinancial position as if no taxes under Section 4999 had been imposed upon him.For purposes of this Section, Employee will be deemed to pay federal incometaxes at the highest marginal rate of federal income taxation in the calendaryear in which the Excise Tax is (or would be) payable and state and localincome taxes at the highest marginal rate of taxation in the state and localityof Employee’s residence on the Date of Termination, net of the reduction infederal income taxes that could be obtained from deduction of such state andlocal taxes (calculated by assuming that any reduction under Section 68 of theInternal Revenue Code in the amount of itemized deductions allowable toEmployee applies first to reduce the amount of such state and local incometaxes that would otherwise be deductible by Employee).

# 8.                                       Employershall promptly reimburse Employee for any and all legal fees and expensesincurred by him as a result of a termination of employment described in Section7(b), including without limitation all fees and expenses incurred to enforcethe provisions of this Agreement.

# 9.                                       ProhibitedPractices.

During the term of Employee’s employment hereunder,for a period of two years after such employment is terminated for any reason,in consideration of the compensation being paid to Employee hereunder, Employeeshall:

## (a)                                  notsolicit business from anyone who is or becomes an active or prospectivecustomer of Employer or its affiliates and with whom the Employee had dealt

----

## with or had material contact during his termof employment under this Agreement.

## (b)                                 notsolicit for employment or hire any employee of Employer or its affiliates thatthe Employee had contact with during his term of employment under thisAgreement.

# 10.                                 Non-Disclosure.

## (a)                                  *Protection of Trade Secrets*. Employee acknowledges that during the course of his or her employment,Employee will have significant access to, and involvement with, the Company’sTrade Secrets and Confidential Information. Employee agrees to maintain in strict confidence and, except asnecessary to perform his or her duties for the Company, Employee agrees not touse or disclose any Trade Secrets of the Company during or after his or heremployment.  Employee agrees that theprovisions of this subsection shall be deemed sufficient to protect TradeSecrets of third parties provided to the Company under an obligation ofsecrecy. As provided by Georgia statutes, “Trade Secret” shall mean anyinformation (including, but not limited to, technical or nontechnical data, aformula, a pattern, a compilation, a program, a device, a method, a technique,a drawing, a process, financial data, financial plans, product plans, or a listof actual or potential customers) that: (i) derives economic value, actual orpotential, from not being generally known to, and not being readilyascertainable by proper means by, other persons who can obtain economic value fromits disclosure or use; and (ii) is the subject of efforts that are reasonableunder the circumstances to maintain its secrecy.

## (b)                                 *Protection of Other Confidential Information*.  In addition, Employee agrees to maintain instrict confidence and, except as necessary to perform his or her duties for theCompany, not to use or disclose any Confidential Information of the Companyduring his or her employment and for a period of 12 months followingtermination of Employee’s employment.  “ConfidentialInformation” shall mean any internal, non-public information (other than TradeSecrets already addressed above) concerning (without limitation) the Company’sfinancial position and results of operations (including revenues, assets, netincome, etc.); annual and long-range business plans; product or service plans;marketing plans and methods; training, educational and administrative manuals;supplier information and purchase histories; customers or clients; personneland salary information; and employee lists. Employee agrees that the provisionsof this subsection shall be deemed sufficient to protect ConfidentialInformation of third parties provided to the Company under an obligation ofsecrecy.

## (c)                                  *Rights to Work Product*. Except as expressly provided in this Agreement, the Company alone shallbe entitled to all benefits, profits and results arising from or incidental toEmployee’s performance of his or her job duties to the Company.  To the greatest extent possible, any workproduct, property, data, invention, “know-how”, documentation or information ormaterials prepared, conceived, discovered, developed or created by Employee inconnection with performing his or her employment responsibilities duringEmployee’s employment with the

----

## Company shall be deemed to be “work made forhire” as defined in the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C.A. § 101 et seq., as amended,and owned exclusively and perpetually by the Company.  Employee hereby unconditionally andirrevocably transfers and assigns to the Company all intellectual property orother rights, title and interest Employee may currently have (or in the futuremay have) by operation of law or otherwise in or to any work product.  Employee agrees to execute and deliver to theCompany any transfers, assignments, documents or other instruments which theCompany may deem necessary or appropriate to vest complete and perpetual titleand ownership of any work product and all associated rights exclusively in theCompany.  The Company shall have the rightto adapt, change, revise, delete from, add to and/or rearrange the work productor any part thereof written or created by Employee, and to combine the samewith other works to any extent, and to change or substitute the title thereof,and in this connection Employee hereby waives the “moral rights” of authors asthat term is commonly understood throughout the world including, withoutlimitation, any similar rights or principles of law which Employee may now orlater have by virtue of the law of any locality, state, nation, treaty,convention or other source. Unless otherwise specifically agreed, Employeeshall not be entitled to any additional compensation, beyond his or her salary,for any exercise by the Company of its rights set forth in the precedingsentence.

## (d)                                 *Return of Materials*. Employee shall surrender to the Company, promptly upon its request andin any event upon termination of Employee’s employment, all media, documents,notebooks, computer programs, handbooks, data files, models, samples, pricelists, drawings, customer lists, prospect data, or other material of any naturewhatsoever (in tangible or electronic form) in the Employee’s possession orcontrol, including all copies thereof, relating to the Company, its business,or its customers. Upon the request of the Company, employee shall certify inwriting compliance with the foregoing requirement.

# 11.                                 Severability.

It is the intention of the parties that if any of therestrictions or covenants contained herein is held to cover a geographic areaor to be for a length of time or to apply to business activities which is notpermitted by applicable law, or in any way construed to be too broad or to anyextent invalid, such provision shall not be construed to be null, void and ofno effect, but to the extent such provision would be valid or enforceable underapplicable law, a court of competent jurisdiction shall construe and interpretor reform this Section to provide for a covenant having the maximum enforceablegeographic area, time period and any other provisions (not greater than thosecontained herein) as shall be valid and as shall be valid and enforceable undersuch applicable law.

If any provision contained in this Section shall forany reason be held invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, suchinvalidity, illegality or unenforceability shall not affect any otherprovisions of this Section, but this Section shall be construed as if suchinvalid, illegal or unenforceable provision had never been contained herein.

----

# 12.                                 Waiverof Provisions

Failure of either party to insist, in one or moreinstances, on performance by the other in strict accordance with the terms andconditions of this Agreement shall not be deemed a waiver or relinquishment ofany right granted hereunder or of the future performance of any such term or conditionor of any other term or condition of this Agreement, unless such waiver’scontained in a writing signed by the party against whom the waiver orrelinquishment is sought to be enforced.

# 13.                                 Notices

Any notice or other communication to a party requiredor permitted hereunder shall be in a writing and shall be deemed sufficientlygiven when received by the party (regardless of the method of delivery), or ifsent by registered or certified mail, postage and fees prepaid, addressed tothe party as follows, on the third business day after mailing:

| (a)    |   | If to Employer: |   | 3130 Gateway Drive    |
|--------|--------|-----------------|--------|-----------------------|
|   |   |            |   | Norcross, GA 30071    |
|   |   |            |   |                  |
| (b)    |   | If to Employee: |   | 1992 Winchelsea Court |
|   |   |            |   | Dunwoody, GA 30338    |

 

or in each ease to such other address as the party maytime to time designate in writing to the other party.

# 14.                                 GoverningLaw

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed andenforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Georgia.

# 15.                                 Enforcement.

In the event of any breach or threatened breach byEmployee of any covenant contained in Sections 9 or 10 hereof, the resultinginjuries to the Company would be difficult or impossible to estimateaccurately, even though irreparable injury or damages would certainly result.  Accordingly, an award of legal damages, ifwithout other relief, would be inadequate to protect the Company.  Employee, therefore, agrees that in the eventof any such breach, the Company shall be entitled to obtain from a court ofcompetent jurisdiction an injunction to restrain the breach or anticipatedbreach of any such covenant, and to obtain any other available legal,equitable, statutory, or contractual relief. Should the Company have cause toseek such relief, no bond shall be required from the Company, and Employeeshall pay all attorney’s fees and court costs which the Company may incur tothe extent the Company prevails in its enforcement action.

# 16.                                 EntireAgreement; Modification and Amendment

This Agreement contains the sole and entire agreementbetween the parties and supersedes all prior discussions and agreements betweenthe parties with respect to the matters addressed herein, and any such prioragreement shall, from and after the date hereof, be null and void. ThisAgreement and the attached Schedules shall not be modified or amended except byan instrument in writing signed by the parties hereto.

----

# 17.                                 PartiesBenefited.

This Agreement shall insure to the benefit of, and bebinding upon, Employee, his heirs, executors and administrators, and Employer,its subsidiaries, affiliates, and successors.

 

**INWITNESS WHEREOF**, the parties hereto have executed anddelivered this Agreement as of the date first mentioned above.

 
| **IMMUCOR, INC.**     | ** **         | **EMPLOYEE**           |
|-----------------------|--------------------|------------------------|
| ** **            | ** **         | ** **             |
| ** **            | ** **         | ** **             |
| By:                   | /s/ Edward  Gallup |                   |   | By: | /s/ Gioacchino De Chirico |   |
| Edward L. Gallup, CEO |               | Gioacchino De  Chirico |
|                       |                    |                        |  |  |  |  |

 

----

**SCHEDULEA**

EMPLOYMENTAGREEMENT DATED DECEMBER 1, 2003 BY AND BETWEEN IMMUCOR, INC. AND GIOACCHINO DeCHIRICO.

Base compensation:    $315,000.00 a year payable in 26 installments every twoweeks.

OutplacementAssistance Benefit: $30,000.00.

AutomobileAllowance: $9,600.00 a year payable in 12 monthly installments.
| Immucor, Inc.         |               | Employee               |   |   |
|-----------------------|--------------------|------------------------|--------|--------|
| ** **            | ** **         | ** **             |   |   |
| ** **            | ** **         | ** **             |   |   |
| By:                   | /s/ Edward  Gallup |                   |   | By:    | /s/ Gioacchino De Chirico |   |   |
| Edward L. Gallup, CEO |               | Gioacchino De  Chirico |   |   |
|                  |               |                   |   |   |
|                  |               |                   |   |   |
| Date:                 | 11/10/03           |                   |   | Date:  | 11/10/03 |   |   |   |
|                       |                    |                        |        |        |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

 

(This Schedule Asupersedes and replaces any Schedule A previously executed by the parties hereto.)

----

**SCHEDULEB**

EMPLOYMENTAGREEMENT DATED DECEMDER 1, 2003 BY AND BETWEEN IMMUCOR, INC. AND GIOACCHINO DECHIRICO

Life Insurance forthe Benefit of Employer: N/A

Insured:

Face Amount:  $

Owner of Policy:        Employer

Policy Number:

Insurance Company:

Life Insurance forthe Benefit of Employee:

Insured:  Gioacchino De Chirico.

Face Amount:  $1,000,000.00

Owner of Policy:        Employee

Policy Number:

Insurance Company:
| Immucor, Inc.         |               | Employee               |
|-----------------------|--------------------|------------------------|
| ** **            | ** **         | ** **             |
| ** **            | ** **         | ** **             |
| By:                   | /s/ Edward  Gallup |                   |   | By: | /s/ Gioacchino De Chirico |
| Edward L. Gallup, CEO |               | Gioacchino De  Chirico |
|                  |               |                   |
|                  |               |                   |
| Date:                 | 12/01/03           |                   |   | Date: | 12/01/03 |
|                       |                    |                        |  |  |  |  |  |

 

(This Schedule Bsupersedes and replaces any Schedule B previously executed by the partieshereto.)

----