Applied Spine Technologies to Present at Windhover Information and Medtech Insight's ``Investment In Innovation'' Conference.

BOSTON -- Applied Spine Technologies will be presenting on 10/21/04 at Windhover Information and Medtech Insight's Prestigious "Investment In Innovation" Event, taking place October 21-22, 2004, at the Westin Copley Place Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts.

Applied Spine Technologies (AST) was formed to develop the Panjabi Dynamic Spine Stabilizer for the treatment of chronic low back pain. The Company was founded by CEO Thomas Wood, Vice President of Marketing Jeff White, Dr. Manohar Panajbi and Yale University's Office of Cooperative Research. Operations began in February 2004 upon funding from Oxford Bioscience Partners and BioVentures Investors.

The AST device is a posterior Flexible Stabilization system which supports an injured or degenerated spine while preserving spine motion and flexibility. Of the 30 million patients who report back pain annually in the U.S., over 4.5 million fail conservative treatment and approximately 500,000 of them undergo surgery of the lumbar spine. Currently, worldwide revenues of spine implant devices, virtually all of which are for fusion, are estimated to exceed $2.2 billion.

Treatment of the most severe cases of chronic pain is moving from fusion to motion-preserving techniques and represents an important opportunity for patients, clinicians and investors. One alternative, replacement discs, has made significant progress in recent years and U.S. marketing of the first device is likely to begin soon. Like fusion, replacement disc arthroplasty is a highly invasive and traumatic procedure; nevertheless, (as reported by Knowledge Enterprises of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, a leading orthopedic market analyst) three artificial disc companies have been acquired by major spine players in the last 18 months for close to $1 billion.

Flexible stabilization with the AST device requires no tissue removal or replacement and is a substantially less invasive option for many patients who are currently offered fusion or disc replacement. The immediate market opportunity served by the AST device is well in excess of $1 billion and the Company believes that the less invasive, reversible and motion-preserving nature of the AST device will ultimately encourage candidates who have resisted major surgery to now consider this surgical treatment for their pain, greatly expanding the already growing spinal implant segment.

About Medtech Insight

Medtech Insight's "Investment In Innovation" conferences are considered the premier forum for senior executives in the investment and medical technology community to preview emerging medtech companies in need of funding, acquisition and/or strategic partnership. Medtech Insight, which was recently acquired by Windhover Information Inc. (www.windhover.com), publisher of IN VIVO: The Business & Medicine Report, Start-UP: Windhover's Review of Emerging Technologies, and IN VIVO EuropeRx, offers a wide variety of products and services for the medical technology executive. In addition to conferences, the company publishes the "medtech insight" newsletter, a monthly publication covering the latest trends and innovations in the medical technology industry, as well as analyses of medtech markets through its Reports group, and offers custom consulting and market research. To register for the Boston conference or for more information on Medtech Insight, please call Scott Pantel at 949-219-0150 or 888-290-2225 toll-free in the U.S., e-mail [e-mail], or visit http://www.medtechinsight.com/in3-12.html.