Second Round of Funding to Continue Development of Cure for Atrial Fibrillation

For Immediate Release

March 8, 1999

Contact:	Dr. Michael Ross
	President &CEO
	Atrionix, Inc.
	650-843-1980

Palo Alto, Calif. -- March 8, 1999- Atrionix, Inc., a medical device company developing a catheter-based procedure for curing atrial fibrillation (AF), has received $8 million in additional venture capital funding.

The lead investor in the company's second round of funding was Premier Medical Partner Fund, San Diego, the venture fund of Premier, Inc., the nation's largest strategic purchasing alliance of leading hospitals and healthcare systems. Other new investors were Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Development Corporation, the Redwood Shores, CA venture arm of the healthcare products firm, and Saratoga Ventures, Saratoga, CA. They were joined by the original investors in Atrionix including previous lead, Magic Venture Capital, Menlo Park, and Brentwood Venture Capital, Menlo Park.

"These new funds will enable Atrionix to both initiate the Food and Drug Administration process for U.S. human clinical studies and begin pilot human clinical studies abroad," said Dr. Michael Ross, President and CEO of Atrionix. "Given the strength of Premier and J & J in U.S. healthcare and their knowledge of cardiac rhythm management, we are delighted at the validation and the long-term strategic value that their participation brings," he added. Dr. Ross said the new funding brought the total amount raised by Atrionix since 1997 to nearly $12 million.

Atrionix is focused on developing a proprietary, catheter-based system for curing AF, which is a disruption in the heart's normal sinus rhythm. AF affects two million people in the U.S., with more than 160,000 new cases diagnosed annually, and is particularly hard on the elderly. Stroke is one of its major complications.

Drug therapy for AF has been particularly disappointing, pointed out Dr. Ross, and surgery is not appropriate for the majority of patients. He noted that Atrionix's catheter system will, for the first time, provide a permanent cure for AF patients.

This technology, which is novel and completely different from existing methods, has the potential to revolutionize the therapy of patients with the most common of all cardiac arrhythmias," added Dr. Michael Lesh, Chief of Cardiac Electrophysiology at the University of California, San Francisco and the company's Chief Scientific Officer.