BIOTRONIK Announces ''Breakthrough Technology'' Contract with Premier.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 3, 2003

BIOTRONIK, Inc. announced today that Premier Purchasing Partners L.P., a leading U.S. healthcare alliance, has formally accepted inclusion of Biotronik's Home Monitoring products in its Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM) portfolio. Biotronik's Home Monitoring technology is the world's first wireless communication system for remote monitoring of implantable pacemakers and defibrillators.

Initially, a physician panel reviewed the data submitted by Biotronik and, based on the company's breakthrough technology, recommended inclusion. The Cardiovascular Committee then reviewed the recommendation and voted to add Biotronik's products to its portfolio.

"This Advanced Patient Management(TM) (APM) system is a completely new category of technology for CRM that promises to dramatically reduce the incidence of death and disease by providing physicians with a completely automated, wireless way of discovering and reporting essential data on patients. APM provides physicians with critical information on arrhythmias, therapy delivery, medication effects, and device status weeks or months earlier than any other similar technology. This allows physicians to dramatically improve patient management by addressing time-sensitive problems long before they become chronic or critical," said Jake Langer, President of BIOTRONIK, Inc., which is located in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

Biotronik's APM technology is the culmination of years of research and development and has already found wide acceptance in the CRM community. Physicians who have already adopted APM emphasize the benefits of doing need-based triage of CRM patients, as opposed to doing standard calendar-based follow-ups only. They know precisely when their patients receive therapy, what kind of therapy it was, and whether it was successful - all within moments of the event. Many in the medical community applaud the ability of this technology to help patients at the same time it reduces healthcare costs.

The technology is a compact, worldwide, wireless system that requires no patient intervention, yet accurately and dependably reports information that the clinician requires to provide state-of-the-art patient care. The clinical and commercial impact of this technology allows physicians to adjust patient treatment by receiving timely information on asymptomatic atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardias. To date, physicians report excellent results in everything from discovering lead dislodgements to confirming the effectiveness of prescribed medications.

Biotronik, an innovative, privately held company in the highly competitive CRM market, specializes in developing distinctive technologies. Its U.S. headquarters are located in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Biotronik conducts business in over 60 countries worldwide, and is completely committed to researching, developing, and marketing cutting-edge biomedical products to restore, secure, and enhance the patients' quality of life.