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Abiomed Announces Specialized Partner Program for Heart Recovery in the Treatment of Emergent Cardiac Care Patients

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^{Published in Health and Fitness on Thursday, September 30th 2010 at 4:35 GMT by Market Wire}  

DANVERS, Mass.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--[ Abiomed, Inc. ] (NASDAQ: ABMD), a leading provider of breakthrough heart support technologies, today announced the launch of a specialized partner program that enables select top healthcare institutions to provide advanced training in hemodynamic support and complex patient management to better facilitate heart muscle recovery.

"PinnacleHealth strives to set the standard for improving heart muscle recovery and clinical outcomes in the treatment of hemodynamically unstable cardiac patients. The launch of this program demonstrates our commitment to maximizing heart muscle recovery and improving quality of life for our cardiac patients"

The latest USpella update, announced last week at TCT 2010, provided data for 352 patients after prophylactic Impella-supported revascularization and emergent Impella support. This USpella data revealed that there was a significant reduction (59%) in the 30-day mortality rate in the group that received Impella before revascularization. Additionally, 90% of the USpella survivors in the emergent care group recovered their native cardiac function and were discharged with their own heart. Abiomed defines heart muscle recovery as an improvement of the heart muscle function that enables a patient to sustain quality of life at home.

aTreating emergent care patients in a timely and effective manner is an ongoing clinical challenge for many healthcare institutions. Within five years after a first heart attack, 33% of men and 43% of women die, emphasizing the need to establish heart recovery programs that can provide treatment that allows the heart muscle to recover,a said Michael R. Minogue, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Abiomed. aThis collaborative program will educate healthcare institutions across the U.S. on the value of treating patients with emergent hemodynamic support to allow earlier intervention that achieves the outcome of heart muscle recovery for their cardiac care programs. We are thrilled to announce PinnacleHealth as the first institution to partner with us on this program.a

PinnacleHealth, a leading hospital and healthcare system, is focused on improving clinical outcomes, reducing readmissions and establishing a standard of care in providing earlier hemodynamic support for emergent cardiac care patients. PinnacleHealth operates five primary care facilities as well as a network of family practice and urgent care centers, managed care entities, home health-care, hospice, and an array of other healthcare services. It is one of the first healthcare institutions to formally partner with Abiomed to provide advanced training in hemodynamic support and complex patient management to better facilitate heart muscle recovery.

aPinnacleHealth strives to set the standard for improving heart muscle recovery and clinical outcomes in the treatment of hemodynamically unstable cardiac patients. The launch of this program demonstrates our commitment to maximizing heart muscle recovery and improving quality of life for our cardiac patients,a said Philip W. Guarneschelli, Chief Executive Officer of PinnacleHealth and Vascular Institute. aWhile there are heart transplant centers for heart replacement, there is an immediate need for heart muscle recovery programs in order to recover the native heart. Now with Impella, we can provide hemodynamic support in the cath lab, in minutes, enabling our patients to return back to their normal quality of life even sooner.a

The selected healthcare institutions will participate in the Abiomed partner program by establishing protocols to improve heart muscle recovery for emergent cardiac care patients. These hospitals will be established as leading training centers focused on educating other institutions on the importance of heart muscle recovery and treating hemodynamically unstable patients with emergent revascularization.

ABOUT ABIOMED

Based in Danvers, Massachusetts, Abiomed, Inc. is a leading provider of medical devices that provide circulatory support to acute heart failure patients across the continuum of care in heart recovery. Our products are designed to enable the heart to rest, heal and recover by improving blood flow and/or performing the pumping of the heart. For additional information please visit: [ www.abiomed.com ].

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding development of Abiomed's existing and new products, the Company's progress toward commercial growth, and future opportunities and expected regulatory approvals. The Company's actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements based upon a number of factors, including uncertainties associated with development, testing, regulatory approvals, anticipated future losses, complex manufacturing, high quality requirements, dependence on limited sources of supply, competition, technological change, government regulation, future capital needs and uncertainty of additional financing, and other risks and challenges detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report filed on Form 10-K and most recent Form 10-Q. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this Release. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date of this Release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Impella is a registered trademark of Abiomed Europe GmbH, a subsidiary of Abiomed, Inc.