Aptus Endosystems, Inc.

Sunnyvale, CA - October 1, 2005 - On September 15, 2005, Aptus Endosystems, Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA) announced the first human use and successful abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repairs using the Aptus AAA Repair System, including the novel endovascular stapling system The procedures were performed at the Hospital Centro Médico de Caracas in Caracas, Venezuela by Takao Ohki, MD, Chief of Vascular Surgery, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, David Deaton, MD, Chief, Endovascular Surgery, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, and José Antonio Condado, MD, Director, Interventional Cardiology at the Hospital Centro Médico de Caracas in Caracas, Venezuela.

The Aptus AAA repair system consists of a highly conformable endograft, which is deployed from a low profile delivery catheter, and a unique endovascular stapler for securely attaching the endograft to the artery wall. The use of endovascular staples is designed to replace the need for barbs and/or trans-renal stents, while enabling the treatment of short and angulated proximal necks.

"The Aptus AAA Repair System was very easy to use. The delivery and deployment of the endograft was straightforward. Staple deployment was simple and extremely precise despite the fact that the aneurysm, in one of the patients we treated, had a very angulated and short proximal neck. The endostapling process adds very little extra time to the procedure while providing maximum fixation," commented Dr. Ohki.

"The Aptus AAA Repair System represents a new era in endovascular technology. It is the first system that includes endovascular stapling, which will revolutionize endovascular procedures," noted Dr. Deaton. "We were able to successfully treat an acute Type I endoleak with the endovascular staples, a world's first. This represents a new level of control, precision and security in all future endovascular procedures".

"We are very encouraged by the positive results of these first clinical procedures," noted Alan Kaganov, Sc.D. President and CEO of Aptus, "and we are proceeding towards an IDE submission and starting our U.S. clinical trials in early 2006."

Aptus Endosystems, Inc. is a privately-held company and currently its devices are not for sale in the United States.