November 15, 2005

Terumo has launched the PTCA guiding catheter "Heartrail II"
featuring both a gentle tip and powerful shaft.

On November 17, Terumo Corporation (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. President: Akira Takahashi) launched "Heartrail II," a PTCA guiding catheter used in Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty (PTCA), a treatment used to treat angina and myocardial infarction. The product will be made available to medical institutions throughout Japan. The suggested retail price (insurance reimbursement price) for this product will be ¥34,400 per catheter with a sales target of ¥1.5 billion for the first year after launch.

The new "Heartrail II" guiding catheter features improved visibility of the distal end during X-ray imaging to ensure safe and secure treatment as well as excellent shape retention, greatly facilitating treatments performed within the coronary artery.

* PTCA guiding catheter:
A PTCA guiding catheter is a tube with a diameter of about 2 to 3 mm that is used to guide PTCA catheters and other instruments to the coronary artery. Since the PTCA catheter is inserted through the PTCA guiding catheter to perform treatments on the narrowed or clogged lesion of the coronary artery, these instruments are essential for performing PTCA procedures.

Heartrail II features

1. Flexible tip with excellent visibility
   The tip of the catheter is flexible so as not to damage blood vessels. Visibility of the very tip during X-ray imaging has been improved.
2. Excellent shape retention
   A material that is less vulnerable to *heat deformation was used to ensure good shape retention. * Softening of the resin caused by the patient's body temperature.
3. Excellent interior sliding characteristics
   PTFE is used on the inside of the catheter to reduce sliding resistance between other medical equipment including guide wires and PTCA catheters, and hence improve usability.

PTCA is a therapy utilizing a balloon fitted to the tip of a tube 1 mm in diameter, which is called a PTCA catheter. This balloon is inflated in the lesion to dilate a blood vessel that has been narrowed or clogged due to coronary artery diseases, such as angina or myocardial infarction. In Japan, PTCA is now performed in 180,000 cases a year at more than 1,000 medical facilities.

(Note) Forward-looking statements included in this release were determined by Terumo based on the best information available at the time of writing and are subject to potential risks and uncertainties. Therefore, please note that, due to various factors, the actual implementation may differ from what is described here.

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