NATICK, Mass., March 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) today announced the U.S. launch of its ZIPwire™ Hydrophilic Guide Wire, which has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to facilitate the placement of devices during diagnostic and interventional procedures.

"The ability to access a lesion is critical for successful diagnosis and intervention," said John Pedersen, President of Boston Scientific's Peripheral Interventions business. "With the ZIPwire Guide Wire, we have incorporated leading guide wire technology to deliver a product designed to help interventionalists navigate difficult anatomies and offer them a wide range of options to address their clinical challenges."

A guide wire is a thin, flexible wire that can be used to facilitate the placement of balloon catheters or other therapeutic devices during peripheral and coronary interventional or diagnostic procedures. The ZIPwire Hydrophilic Guide Wire features a number of elements designed to enhance the ability to steer, handle and track the device. The ZIPwire Guide Wire's coating supports smooth exchanges with other devices and is designed to support crossing of difficult lesions. A flexible and refined tip is designed to allow physicians to maneuver through tortuous blood vessels and facilitates smooth catheter advancement and precise positioning. A robust nitinol core resists kinking and transmits rotation along the length of the device (torque transmission), which improves maneuverability. The ZIPwire Guide Wire is available in stiff and standard versions and in various lengths, diameters and tip shapes.

Diagnostic and interventional procedures are minimally invasive procedures performed to correct vascular problems such as blocked blood vessels in the legs. In severe cases, blocked vessels can lead to serious outcomes, such as amputation.

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
                                 Investor Relations
                                 Boston Scientific Corporation

                                 Paul Donovan
                                 508-650-8541
                                 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.

SOURCE: Boston Scientific Corporation

CONTACT: Milan Kofol, Investor Relations, +1-508-650-8569, or Paul
Donovan, Media Relations, +1-508-650-8541, Boston Scientific Corporation

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