EDEN PRAIRIE, MN and SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA--(Marketwire - Sep 13, 2012) - Sunshine Heart, Inc. (NASDAQ: [ SSH ]) (ASX: SHC), a global medical device company focused on innovative technologies for moderate heart failure, today announced John Erb as the Company's new Chairman of the Board. He replaces Nick Callinan, who has served as a Director of SHI since mid 2008 and was appointed Chairman in October 2008.

Mr. Callinan said, "I welcome John to the board. With his outstanding experience in our industry, he is ideally qualified to lead the Company through its next stage of development. I have been privileged to be part of Sunshine Heart for the past four years which have seen many changes, an important one of which has been the Company's transition to the U.S. and its listing on NASDAQ. It is now time to change the balance of our board and to appoint a U.S. based Chairman. John Erb has extensive experience in the cardiovascular industry, merger and acquisition transactions, and serves as a Board member and Chairman of NASDAQ, ASX and private companies. He is clearly very well-prepared to guide Sunshine Heart through its next phase of development."

Mr. Erb currently serves as the Chairman of Vascular Solutions (NASDAQ: [ VASC ]), Chairman of Osprey Medical (ASX: OSP), and current Chairman and CEO of U.S. based Cardia Access. He has been part of recent acquisitions such as SenoRx (C.R. Bard), CryoCath Technologies (Medtronic Inc.), CHF Solutions (Gambro) and IntraTherapeutics (Sulzer Medica). Mr. Erb has also served in Senior Management roles with Schneider Worldwide, a leader in the cardiovascular space prior to its acquisition by Boston Scientific. Mr. Erb currently resides in Wayzata, MN, near Sunshine Heart's Corporate Headquarters in Eden Prairie, MN.

Sunshine Heart CEO, Dave Rosa, paid tribute to Mr. Callinan's contribution to the Company and to the board, "Over the past four years, Mr. Callinan has overseen a number of major milestones. I personally want to thank Nick for his support, guidance and mentorship over the past three years. We believe we are now well prepared to enter into our next phase as a Company and wish Nick all the best." 

As part of this transition, Mr. Callinan will remain on the Board through the end of 2012.

About the C-Pulse® Heart Assist System
The C-Pulse Heart Assist System, or C-Pulse System, an investigational device in the United States, Canada and countries that do not recognize the CE mark approval, utilizes the scientific principles of intra-aortic balloon counter-pulsation applied in an extra-aortic approach to assist the left ventricle by reducing the workload required to pump blood throughout the body, while increasing blood flow to the coronary arteries. Operating outside the patient's bloodstream, the extra-aortic approach of the C-Pulse technology offers greater flexibility, allowing patients to safely disconnect to have intervals of freedom to perform certain activities such as showering. The C-Pulse System may help maintain the patient's current condition and, in some cases, reverse the heart failure process, thereby potentially preventing the need for later stage heart failure therapies, such as left ventricular assist devices (LVADs), artificial hearts or transplants.

Caution: Investigational device, limited by Federal (or United States) Law to Investigational use.

About Sunshine® Heart
Sunshine Heart, Inc. (NASDAQ: [ SSH ]) (ASX: SHC) is an early-stage global medical device company committed to the commercialization of the C-Pulse Heart Assist System, an implantable, non-blood contacting, heart assist therapy for the treatment of moderate to severe heart failure. The C-Pulse System can be implanted using a minimally invasive procedure and is designed to relieve the symptoms of heart failure through the use of counter-pulsation technology, which enables an increase in cardiac output, an increase in coronary blood flow and a reduction in the heart's pumping load. We have completed an approved U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) feasibility clinical trial of the C-Pulse System and presented the results in November 2011. In March, 2012, the FDA notified us that we can move forward with an investigational device exemption (IDE) application. We submitted an IDE application to the FDA in August 2012 for approval to initiate our pivotal trial. In July 2012 we received CE Mark for our C-Pulse System in Europe. Sunshine Heart is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Minneapolis with a subsidiary presence in Australia. The Company has been listed on the ASX since September 2004 and on the NASDAQ since February 2012. For more information, please visit [ www.sunshineheart.com ].