Sorin Group Receives Approval to Market S5 Heart-Lung Machine in Japan and Announces Landmark Shipment of 7000th Heart-Lung Machine

The Sorin Group (MIL:SRN), the largest European cardiovascular
company and world leader in medical technologies for cardiac surgery

announces that it received the Japanese Pharmaceutical and Medical
Devices Agency´s (PMDA) approval to market its Stockert S5 Heart-Lung
Machine in Japan.

Every year, over one million patients in the world undergo
life-saving open-heart procedures supported by heart-lung machines.

With more than 30 years of experience in the cardiopulmonary
business field, the Sorin Group is the undisputed leader in the
manufacturing and marketing of heart-lung machines, with a share of
over 60% of the installed base of machines. It works closely together
with perfusionists across the globe in order to ensure that the most
advanced features and technologies are adopted and better patient
outcome is achieved. As a testament to this, the 7,000th perfusion
system - a S5 heart-lung machine - was recently shipped to Brisbane

Australia.

Launched in Europe, U.S. and rest of the world between end 2005
and 2006, the Stockert S5 is the fifth-generation of heart-lung
machines and the successor to Sorin Group´s SIII perfusion system. The
S5 state-of-the-art technology sets new standards for safety

functionality and quality and will help hospitals achieve better
patient outcome. For example, the smaller footprint of the S5 allows
closer positioning of the unit to the patient, effectively reducing
line lengths and the possibility of hemodilution. In addition

acoustically differentiated alarms and information displayed on the
high-resolution touch screens clearly describe the status of all
monitoring functions of the extracorporeal circuit. Furthermore, the
S5 has no boot-up time: this means that the pumps are operable three
seconds after turning the system on, which is extremely important in
emergency situations. In fact, the S5 does not use PC-based technology
to control the system: all modules are directly programmed to perform
a perfusion specific function and are completely interchangeable.

"With the launch of the new S5 in Japan, I am confident the Sorin
Group will gain market leadership in heart-lung machines in this key
country and further consolidate its leading worldwide market share"

said Michel Darnaud, President, Cardiopulmonary Business Unit and
Intercontinental, Sorin Group.

About the heart-lung machine

A heart-lung machine is a sophisticated piece of medical equipment
that helps keeping a patient alive when undergoing an open-heart
cardiac surgery procedure: it provides blood circulation and
oxygenation to organs and brain while the patient´s heart and lungs
are temporarily stopped.

About the Sorin Group

The Sorin Group (Bloomberg: SRN.IM; Reuters: SORN.MI), a world
leader in the development of medical technologies for cardiac surgery

offers innovative therapies for cardiac rhythm dysfunctions

interventional cardiology and the treatment of chronic kidney
diseases. The Sorin Group includes these brands: Dideco, CarboMedics

COBE Cardiovascular, Stockert, Mitroflow, ELA Medical, Sorin
Biomedica, Bellco and Bellco-Soludia. At the Sorin Group 4,500
employees work to serve over 5,000 public and private treatment
centers in more than 80 countries throughout the world.

For more information, please visit: www.sorin.com