Sorin Group Enters into an Exclusive Agreement with Datascope to Distribute Sorin's Peripheral Stent Line.

Includes Call Option To Acquire Sorin's Peripheral Stent Business

MILAN, Italy -- Sorin Group (MIL:SRN) (Reuters code: SORN.MI) announced today that it has closed an exclusive five-year worldwide agreement, excluding the United States and Japan, with Datascope Corp. (NASDAQ:DSCP), that will distribute Sorin's peripheral vascular stent products. The deal includes a call option to acquire Sorin's peripheral stent business within two years.

Sorin's innovative peripheral stent products are dedicated to the treatment of peripheral arterial disease ("PAD") and use the Carbofilm(TM) Technology, whose excellent biocompatible and hemocompatible characteristics are well clinically proven. The product line includes balloon-expandable and self-expanding stent systems principally for use in the treatment of the iliac arteries, renal arteries and infrapopliteal lesions, as well as balloon systems for use in PTA (Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty).

Sorin's peripheral stent line will be distributed by Datascope's InterVascular Division ("Intervascular"), a worldwide leader in manufacturing and distributing vascular grafts to cardiac and vascular surgeons. Datascope believes that the peripheral stent products are an attractive addition to Intervascular's product portfolio and will benefit from Intervascular's marketing, sales, clinical education / training, and new product development capabilities.

"We are very confident that this agreement represents a unique opportunity to strengthen and reinforce Sorin's technological leadership and awareness in the interventional cardiology market, benefiting from Datascope's sales and distribution network", said Franco Vallana, President Cardiac Surgery Business Unit and Chief Scientific Officer of Sorin Group.

"We believe that Sorin's peripheral vascular stents will be an attractive addition to InterVascular's portfolio," said InterVascular President Nino Laudani. "We look forward to leveraging our capabilities in marketing, sales, clinical education and training, as well as product development to accelerate the adoption of these Sorin products. Our strength in the cardiovascular surgery call point, as well as our commitment to technology innovation, should enable us to increase peripheral stent sales and expand the overall adoption rate of stents by vascular surgeons and interventionalists."

The worldwide market for peripheral vascular stents and PTA balloons, excluding the United States and Japan, is estimated at $192 million annually, and growing due to an increase in diagnostic procedures, the demographics of the aging population and the higher incidence of diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and hypercholesterolemia - all leading causes of PAD.

About the Sorin Group

The Sorin Group (Reuters code: SORN.MI), a world leader in the development of medical technologies for cardiac surgery, offers innovative therapies for cardiac rhythm dysfunctions, interventional cardiology and the treatment of chronic kidney diseases. Sorin Group includes: Dideco, CarboMedics, Inc., COBE Cardiovascular, Inc., St[?]ckert, Mitroflow, ELA Medical, Inc., Sorin Biomedica, Bellco and Soludia. Sorin Group has more than 4,500 employees working at facilities in more than 80 countries throughout the world to serve over 5,000 public and private treatment centers.

About InterVascular and Datascope Corp.

InterVascular, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Datascope Corp., is a leading worldwide supplier of a full range of polyester, collagen-coated knitted and woven vascular grafts and patches.

Datascope Corp. is a diversified medical device company that designs, manufactures and markets proprietary products for clinical health care markets in interventional cardiology and radiology, cardiovascular and vascular surgery, anesthesiology, emergency medicine and critical care. The Company has four product lines aggregated into two reporting segments, Cardiac Assist / Monitoring Products and Interventional Products / Vascular Grafts. The Company's products are sold throughout the world through direct sales representatives and independent distributors. Founded in 1964, Datascope is headquartered in Montvale, New Jersey. For news releases, webcasts and other Company information please visit Datascope's website, www.datascope.com.

For more information:

www.sorin.com

www.datascope.com