Jul 7, 1999
Guidant Announces Sale of General Surgery Business to U.S. Surgical

Indianapolis, IN - Guidant Corporation (NYSE and PCX: GDT), a global leader in cardiovascular therapy, today announced the completion of the sale of Guidant''s general surgery business to United States Surgical, a division of Tyco Healthcare Group, LP (USS). Under the terms of the agreement, USS has acquired the assets of Guidant''s general surgery business, which includes all of its products for general surgery and approximately 50 employees whose primary job functions relate to operations of this business unit. The two companies did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction, which are not material to either company.

Guidant''s general surgery business is a set of product lines and assets that were a part of Origin Medsystems, which will remain a wholly owned subsidiary of Guidant. The sale does not include any of the Origin products for cardiac surgery applications, including the VASOVIEW UNIPORT(tm) and the VASOVIEW UNIPORT(tm) Plus systems, which are used for endoscopic saphenous vein harvest. Guidant has also retained the ability to apply certain of the technologies that are being transferred in this transaction to products that are either currently in development, or will be developed in the future by its Cardiac & Vascular Surgery Group.

"This transaction completes a process of transitioning out of a business that is no longer of strategic importance to Guidant," said Jay Watkins, president of Guidant''s Cardiac & Vascular Surgery Group. "During this transition period, most of the capabilities of the general surgery organization have been shifted to focus in the areas of cardiac and vascular surgery. This transaction will now enable us to concentrate exclusively on the development of innovative technologies that are important to our future.

"At the same time, we are pleased to transfer this business to USS, a company that we are confident has the resources and capability to continue to offer Origin''s quality line of general surgery products to our physician customers."

A global leader in the medical device industry, Guidant provides innovative, minimally invasive and cost-effective products and services for the treatment of cardiovascular and vascular disease. For more information about Guidant''s products and services, visit the company''s Web site at http://www.guidant.com.