Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Announces New Dedicated Category I CPT Physician Payment Rates for Impella

DANVERS, Mass., Nov. 2, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Abiomed, Inc. (Nasdaq:ABMD), a leading provider of breakthrough heart support technologies, announced today that the Department of Health and Human Services, through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), has approved and released the valuation of the three new Category I Current Procedure Terminology (CPT) codes for Impella® percutaneous technologies, to be effective January 2013.

The process for obtaining Category I CPT codes for the Impella devices began in 2011 and was based on a thorough review of published, peer-reviewed literature and clinical use in the United States. The comprehensive data for the CPT codes was submitted by the Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), the American College of Cardiology (ACC), and the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS). On November 28, 2012, SCAI, ACC and HRS will provide a coding webcast for its members to discuss the valuation and payment of the specific codes.

As released in September 2012 by the American Medical Association, three new individual CPT codes were created to apply to the insertion, repositioning and removal of Impella percutaneous devices.

The total of all three CPT codes in aggregate is $833.

"Physicians now have a standardized process for receiving payment for their procedures utilizing Impella," said Michael R. Minogue, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Abiomed. "These new category 1 CPT codes are a major milestone for Abiomed and the clinical community."

The above rates are calculated using the Final Rule 2013 total Relative Value Units (RVU) for each of the above codes and the 2012 Conversion Factor. This is the tenth consecutive year that the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula has proposed a lower conversion factor (2013=25.0008), although the reductions have been averted through legislation in every year through the "physician fix." Abiomed expects the payment amount to be adjusted for all procedures including these new Impella procedure codes in 2013.

CPT® is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association, which develops and maintains CPT codes.

ABOUT ABIOMED

Based in Danvers, Massachusetts, Abiomed, Inc., is a leading provider of medical devices that provide circulatory support. Our products are designed to enable the heart to rest by improving blood flow and/or performing the pumping of the heart. For additional information please visit: www.abiomed.com

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding expected patient outcomes, development of Abiomed's existing and new products, the Company's progress toward commercial growth, and future opportunities and expected regulatory approvals. The Company's actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements based upon a number of factors, including uncertainties associated with development, testing and related regulatory approvals, including anticipated future losses, complex manufacturing, high quality requirements, dependence on limited sources of supply, competition, technological change, government regulation, future capital needs and uncertainty of additional financing, and other risks and challenges detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report filed on Form 10-K and most recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.