Conceptus Pivotal Trial Data Show 92 Percent of Women Return to Work in One Day or Less of Permanent Birth Control Procedure; Stop Now Branded Globally as Essure pbc.

Business & Health Editors

SAN CARLOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 11, 2001

Conceptus, Inc. (NASDAQ NM: CPTS), developer of the non-incisional permanent birth control procedure Essure(TM) pbc, previously known as STOP (Selective Tubal Occlusion Procedure), today announced that excluding the day of the procedure, data show that 92 percent of Essure pbc patients who are employed returned to work in one day or less of undergoing the procedure.

Further results indicate that nearly 60 percent of Essure pbc patients were back to their regular physical activities within one day, and within two days 76 percent had resumed regular activities. A comparison to laparoscopic tubal ligation was not performed in the pivotal trial; however, published reports show that women who undergo surgical tubal ligation - the only permanent birth control option currently available for women in the U.S. - return to regular physical activities in three to 10 days.

"These results speak to the unique advantages of the Essure pbc procedure that women currently do not enjoy from surgical tubal ligation," said Steve Bacich, President and CEO of Conceptus, Inc. "Essure pbc is designed to eliminate incisions and avoid general anesthesia, and these results indicate the benefit for women in getting back to their daily lives."

Data from the Pivotal Trial also show that 95 percent of patients would recommend the procedure to a friend. In addition, 99 percent of women who have relied on the Essure micro-insert for birth control rated their long-term satisfaction as `good' to `excellent'. To date, in more than 350 woman-years of effectiveness testing, there has not been a pregnancy with Essure pbc. Like all birth control methods, Essure pbc is not expected to be 100 percent effective, and pregnancies are expected. Adverse events in clinical trials ranged from 4 - 6 percent, and are primarily due to improper device placement.

The availability of Essure pbc in the U.S. is projected for 2003 and is expected to open up a market currently occupied by surgical tubal ligation and vasectomy, which combined account for over 1 million procedures in the United States.

Essure(TM) pbc: New Name Highly Rated by Women

Conceptus also announced today that Essure pbc is the new name for its non-incisional permanent birth control procedure. It is pronounced `assure', and the pbc stands for `permanent birth control'. As part of the Company's in-depth market research, the brand name Essure pbc was highly rated by women as communicating a positive image of assurance, femininity and safety.

"This is an important part of the extensive market research that Conceptus has completed in preparation for high visibility consumer awareness programs," said Stan Van Gent, Vice President, Marketing and Sales. "In-depth interviews with over 2,500 women in Australia and the United States provided key insights into not only what are women's major concerns with current choices, but why they feel strongly that a non-incisional, no general anesthesia approach has significant advantages for them. These concepts are embodied in the new name Essure pbc."

Permanent Birth Control

Surgical tubal ligation has become the most common form of birth control worldwide, despite the fact that it is invasive and costly. About 93 percent of the procedures in the U.S. are performed in a hospital or surgi-center under general anesthesia, requiring between four and five hours of hospital recovery time and three to10 days before returning to regular activities. An Essure pbc procedure does not require cutting or penetrating the abdomen and can be performed in a less costly procedure setting without general anesthesia. Accordingly, a woman is expected to spend about two to three hours of her day for an Essure pbc procedure and have a rapid return to regular activities. Essure pbc does not involve taking drugs or hormones, which can interfere with the body's natural menstruation cycle.

About Conceptus

Conceptus, Inc. is developing Essure pbc, an innovative medical procedure, designed to provide a non-incisional alternative to tubal ligation, the leading form of birth control worldwide. Essure pbc is currently an investigational device in the United States, and studies are ongoing to support the product's safety and effectiveness for purposes of filing a Premarket Approval Application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Data from the United Nations show that worldwide, 33 percent of reproductive couples using birth control rely on surgical tubal ligation. Additionally, a survey performed by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that surgical tubal ligation continues to be the most prevalent form of birth control in the U.S., and that 35 percent of women age 35-44 have had a surgical tubal sterilization. An estimated 700,000 surgical tubal ligations are performed each year in the United States.

The Essure pbc procedure is based on a unique and proprietary catheter delivery system for minimally invasive transcervical tubal access. The system is used to deploy the Essure micro-insert into the fallopian tube. Once in place, the micro-insert elicits tissue in-growth throughout and around the device to the fallopian tube. Additional information about Conceptus and the Essure pbc procedure is available at www.conceptus.com.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements, the accuracy of which is necessarily subject to risks and uncertainties. The receipt of regulatory approvals, results of product development programs, and clinical efficacy of and market demand for products, among other matters discussed in this release, may differ significantly from the discussion of such matters in the forward-looking statements. Such differences may be based upon factors within the Company's control, such as strategic planning decisions by management and re-allocation of internal resources, or on factors outside of the Company's control, such as delays by regulatory authorities, scientific advances by third parties and introduction of competitive products, as well as those factors set forth in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.