Sorin Group and Mayo Clinic Sign Three-Year Research Agreement for Less Invasive Aortic Heart-Valve Implant.

MILAN, Italy & ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Drago Cerchiari, Chief Executive Officer of the Sorin Group (MIL:SRN), Europe's largest cardiovascular medical device group, and Mayo Clinic, announce today that they have signed a three-year agreement to collaborate in research efforts in the development of an aortic valve-replacement procedure that uses a collapsible heart valve implanted in a beating heart.

The collapsible heart valve would be implanted through a small incision in the apex of the heart , would be minimally invasive for the patient and would not require the heart lung machine. Thus, some patients who today cannot undergo a valve-replacement procedure either for advanced age or other medical reasons -- could still benefit from a life-saving, heart valve implant. This would represent a sizeable increase in the population eligible for valve replacements.

The agreement will use the Sorin Group's new sutureless collapsible heart valve which has already been successfully implanted in man. The Sorin valve itself has nearly two decades of proven clinical excellence. Leveraging on its extensive cardiac expierience, Sorin, together with Mayo, will not only develop the therapy itself but also the ancillary instruments needed for the successful execution of the implant and delivery of the valve. Once the implantation procedure is ready, Mayo will participate in U.S.clinical trials.

"I am delighted to have such a prestigious partner in developing this new, ground-breaking procedure," said Franco Vallana, Sorin Group Chief Scientific Officer. "Our know-how combined with Mayo's surgical expertise will ensure the successful outcome of our collaboration and will allow us to bring this new life-saving therapy to market as quickly as possible."

"This unique opportunity brings Mayo Clinic surgeons together with engineers and scientists from the Sorin Group to develop clinically useful collapsible heart valves. This type of collaboration underscores our commitment to developing new devices and bringing the best new technology to our patients" Hartzell V. Schaff, M.D., Chair Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, Mayo Clinic.

This agreement reinforces several other relationships that the Sorin Group already has in place with leading European medical institutions.

About the Sorin Group:

The Sorin Group (Bloomberg: SRN.IM; Reuters: 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. The Sorin Group includes: Dideco, CarboMedics, Inc., COBE Cardiovascular, Inc., Stockert, Mitroflow, ELA Medical, Inc., Sorin Biomedica, Bellco and Soludia. It 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.

For more information, please visit: www.sorin.com.

About Mayo Clinic's Office of Intellectual Property:

The Office of Intellectual Property at Mayo Clinic, serves as Mayo's business development unit. Licensing managers in the Office of Intellectual Property are responsible for finding business opportunities for discoveries and inventions made by Mayo Clinic physicians and employees. Revenue that Mayo Clinic receives from technology commercialization is used to support Mayo's clinical practice, medical research and education activities.

For more information, please visit: www.mayoclinic.org