DANVERS, Mass. (April 7, 2005) - ABIOMED, Inc. (Nasdaq: ABMD) a manufacturer of products for circulatory care and support, today announced that Karim Benali, M.D. MS (VP Product Development) will be presenting a summary of data from more than 2,400 patients that suffered cardiogenic shock (CS) after acute heart failure. The presentation will be delivered at a satellite symposium during the 85th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery being held in San Francisco, CA. The presentation is scheduled for Sunday, April 10, 2005 at 7:00 p.m. PDT.

Dr. Benali will share the clinical trends from ABIOMED's volunteer database registry of 2,474 entries, which includes 270 AMI-CS patients. Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) is estimated to occur in approximately 865,000 patients annually in the United States. Of these patients, between 7-10% suffer cardiogenic shock (CS), which typically occurs a few hours after AMI and is the leading cause of death in patients hospitalized for AMI (Hochman et al. NEJM 1999; 341:9). The current standard of care for AMI-CS patients includes emergency revascularization in a cath lab supported by inotropic drugs and an intra-aortic balloon pump to stabilize the patient. The in- hospital mortality rate for patients receiving this standard therapy is 47 percent (Sanborn et al. JACC 2000; 36:1123). Current data suggests that early use of ABIOMED technology such as BVS 5000 and AB5000 ventricular assist devices (VAD) are likely to have a greater impact on improving survival of these patient populations. These devices alleviate some of the pressure and reduce the workload of the beating heart, allowing the cardiac muscle time to recover when possible.

One hundred sixty open heart and transplant centers have reported AMI-CS VAD results to ABIOMED's volunteer registry. Of these, 21 centers reported results using the AB5000 support system, which was introduced in April 2004. The cumulative data of AMI-CS patients supported with the AB5000 have shown survival rates approaching 50 percent among the high-risk mortality population that has received the current standard of care. Sixty percent of these survivors recovered their native heart function and were discharged home with their own heart. Recovery for an AMI-CS patient has been shown to require an average Length Of Support (LOS) of about 30 days where survival requires an average LOS of 32 days. The recovery LOS is 3 to 4 times that of previous results with twice the rate of recovery. Dr. Benali will discuss the advantage of early VAD assist and the potential benefit of bi-ventricular support in this patient population.

"Early diagnosis and intervention is essential in helping patients recover from AMI-CS, thus avoiding the challenges that can be encountered with other solutions such as heart transplant or permanent device dependency. As cardiologists are involved early in the treatment of AMI patients, it becomes increasingly important to involve and inform them about the benefit of VAD technology in supporting AMI-CS. Patient referral for early VAD support becomes crucial when all other standard of care solutions have been exhausted. The current clinical data provides us with an even greater body of evidence demonstrating the value of early intervention that we can share with this important group of critical care providers," commented Michael R. Minogue, Chief Executive Officer and President of ABIOMED.

Based in Danvers, Massachusetts, ABIOMED, Inc. (pronounced “AB’-EE-O-MED”) is a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of medical products designed to assist or replace the pumping function of the failing heart. ABIOMED currently manufactures and sells the AB5000™ Circulatory Support System and the BVS® 5000 Biventricular Support System for the temporary support of all patients with failing but potentially recoverable hearts. The Company’s AbioCor® Implantable Replacement Heart is the subject of an initial clinical trial being conducted under an Investigational Device Exemption from the United States Food and Drug Administration. The AbioCor has not been approved for commercial distribution, and is not available for use or sale outside of the initial clinical trial.

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