NATICK, Mass. and ATLANTA, March 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) today announced nine-month data from its TAXUS V ISR (in-stent restenosis) clinical trial.(1) The results demonstrated that patients treated for in-stent restenosis with the TAXUS® Express2™ paclitaxel-eluting stent system achieved superior outcomes compared to those patients treated with radiation-based brachytherapy. The Company made the announcement at the i2 Summit held in conjunction with the annual American College of Cardiology Scientific Session in Atlanta.

"The results of the drug-eluting stent arm are very impressive given the difficult challenges that restenotic lesions present," said Gregg W. Stone, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center in New York and the trial's Principal Investigator. "The TAXUS V ISR trial clearly demonstrated that patients with bare-metal stent restenosis had better outcomes when treated with TAXUS stents as compared to coronary radiation."

The study met its primary endpoint of improved nine-month target vessel revascularization (TVR), which was significantly lower in the TAXUS stent group (10.5 percent), as compared to the control group (17.5 percent). The study demonstrated a nine-month target lesion revascularization (TLR) rate of 6.3 percent in the TAXUS stent group, as compared to 13.9 for the control group. The study demonstrated an 11.5 percent rate of Major Adverse Cardiac Events (MACE) for the TAXUS stent group, as compared to 20.1 percent rate for the control group.

TAXUS V ISR is a prospective, randomized, open-label, controlled study of 396 patients at 37 sites in the United States designed to assess the TAXUS stent slow-release formulation paclitaxel-eluting coronary stent system in reducing in-stent restenosis (the regrowth of diseased tissue into a previously stented artery) versus intracoronary brachytherapy (radiation delivered directly to the lesion). An additional 25 patients were enrolled in a registry arm. Clinical follow-up included more than 95 percent of the patients enrolled at nine months.

"We are very pleased with the results of the TAXUS V ISR study, which demonstrated the real strength of our TAXUS stent platform as evidenced by the superior TVR, TLR, and MACE in complex lesions as compared to the control group," said Paul LaViolette, Chief Operating Officer of Boston Scientific. "TAXUS continues to provide consistent benefits in deliverability as well as safety in a wide variety of complex cases."

The TAXUS V ISR results are scheduled to be published in the March 15 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) with an advanced posting to its website on March 12 at http://jama.ama-assn.org/.

Boston Scientific is a worldwide developer, manufacturer and marketer of medical devices whose products are used in a broad range of interventional medical specialties. For more information, please visit: http://www.bostonscientific.com/.

  CONTACT:
  Milan Kofol
  508-650-8569 (Office)
  Investor Relations
  Boston Scientific Corporation

  Paul Donovan
  508-650-8541 (Office)
  508-667-5165 (Mobile)
  Media Relations
  Boston Scientific Corporation

  Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements," including, among other statements, statements regarding the proposed business combination between Boston Scientific Corporation and Guidant Corporation, and the anticipated consequences and benefits of such transaction. Statements made in the future tense, and words such as "anticipate", "expect", "project", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "intend", "will", "may" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, but are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and are beyond the control of Boston Scientific or Guidant. Relevant risks and uncertainties include those referenced in Boston Scientific's and Guidant's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") (which can be obtained as described in "Additional Information" below), and include: general industry conditions and competition; economic conditions, such as interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; technological advances and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approvals; domestic and foreign health care reforms and governmental laws and regulations; and trends toward health care cost containment. Risks and uncertainties relating to the proposed transaction include: required regulatory approvals will not be obtained in a timely manner, if at all; the proposed transaction will not be consummated; the anticipated benefits of the proposed transaction will not be realized; and the integration of Guidant's operations with Boston Scientific will be materially delayed or will be more costly or difficult than expected. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements, and therefore should be carefully considered. Neither Boston Scientific nor Guidant assumes any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events or developments.

Additional Information

Boston Scientific and Guidant have filed a definitive prospectus/joint proxy statement with the SEC in connection with the proposed transaction. The material contained herein is not a substitute for the definitive prospectus/joint proxy statement or any other documents that Boston Scientific and Guidant have filed or will file with the SEC. Investors and security holders are urged to read the definitive prospectus/joint proxy statement and any other relevant documents filed or to be filed by Boston Scientific or Guidant, because they contain or will contain important information about the proposed transaction. The definitive prospectus/joint proxy statement is, and other documents filed or to be filed by Boston Scientific and Guidant with the SEC are or will be, available free of charge at the SEC's website (http://www.sec.gov/) or from Boston Scientific by directing a request to Boston Scientific Corporation, One Boston Scientific Place, Natick, Massachusetts 01760-1537, Attention: Milan Kofol, Investor Relations, or from Guidant by directing a request to Guidant Corporation, 111 Monument Circle, 29th Floor, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204, Attention: Investor Relations.

Boston Scientific, Guidant and their respective directors, executive officers and other employees may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the security holders of Boston Scientific or Guidant in connection with the proposed transaction. Information about Boston Scientific's directors and executive officers is available in Boston Scientific's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005, and information about Guidant's directors and executive officers is available in Guidant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005. Additional information about the interests of potential participants is included in the definitive prospectus/joint proxy statement referred to above.

  (1) CAUTION -- The TAXUS® Express2™ paclitaxel-eluting stent system
      is considered investigational in the United States for use in treating
      in-stent restenosis and for this indication is limited by Federal Law
      to investigational use only.

SOURCE: Boston Scientific Corporation

CONTACT:

Web site: http://www.bostonscientific.com/