May 14, 2004
Guidant to Host Mid-Quarter Conference Call

Live Webcast Available

Indianapolis, Ind. - Guidant Corporation (NYSE: GDT) today announced that it will host a mid-quarter conference call to provide an update on the company''s business. The conference call will be held on Thursday, May 27, 2004 at 9:00 a.m. EDT.

Participating on the call will be Guido J. Neels, group chairman, Office of the President, Guidant Corporation; Dana G. Mead, Jr., president, Vascular Intervention, Guidant Corporation; Fred McCoy, president, Cardiac Rhythm Management, Guidant Corporation; and Keith E. Brauer, vice president, Finance and CFO, Guidant Corporation.

A live webcast of Guidant''s conference call will be accessible through the company''s website at www.guidant.com/webcast. The webcast will be archived for future on-demand replay. Additional financial information concerning Guidant is available at www.guidant.com/investors.

Guidant Corporation pioneers lifesaving technology, giving an opportunity for better life today to millions of cardiac and vascular patients worldwide. The company, driven by a strong entrepreneurial culture of more than 12,000 employees, develops, manufactures and markets a broad array of products and services that enable less invasive care for some of life''s most threatening medical conditions. For more information visit www.guidant.com.

System requirements for the webcast include Internet Explorer 5.0 (or higher) or Netscape Navigator 4.0 (or higher). Users also should have the most recent version of Windows Media Player, which can be downloaded for free at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/en/download/. Users may experience varying levels of performance based on their connection speed, system capabilities and presence of a corporate firewall. To ensure a connection, users should go to the program five to 15 minutes before its start.