St. Jude Medical Announces First Use of Renal Denervation Technology

St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ), a global medical device company, today announced the first use of the company’s renal denervation catheter and generator system, as part of a feasibility study of the new technology. The technology was developed as a treatment for resistant hypertension (high blood pressure that is not well controlled by drug therapy). Prof. Stephen Worthley, Helpman Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Adelaide, performed the first procedure at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in South Australia.

“We have leveraged our company’s extensive experience in ablation technologies to develop a renal denervation system that provides physicians with an alternative therapeutic option for patients with resistant hypertension,” said Frank Callaghan, president of the St. Jude Medical Cardiovascular Division. “This technology could potentially help alleviate some of the $500 billion impact that hypertension has on our health care systems by reducing or eliminating costly and lifelong medication use. Patients could potentially benefit through an overall reduction in risks for cardiovascular side effects of hypertension, including death.”

Commenting on the procedure, Prof. Worthley said, “The design of this catheter minimizes the need for extensive catheter manipulation, which could potentially shorten procedure time, limit contrast use and reduce fluoroscopic exposure for me, my patients and other cath lab staff.”

Hypertension is defined as systolic blood pressure over 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure over 90 mmHg. For every 20 mmHg rise in systolic blood pressure, the risk for cardiovascular disease doubles. Approximately 75 million patients in the U.S. have hypertension, with more than five million patients resistant to drug therapy.

St. Jude Medical expects a limited market launch in Europe before the end of 2012.

About St. Jude MedicalSt. Jude Medical develops medical technology and services that focus on putting more control into the hands of those who treat cardiac, neurological and chronic pain patients worldwide. The company is dedicated to advancing the practice of medicine by reducing risk wherever possible and contributing to successful outcomes for every patient. St. Jude Medical is headquartered in St. Paul, Minn. and has four major focus areas that include: cardiac rhythm management, atrial fibrillation, cardiovascular and neuromodulation. For more information, please visit sjm.com.

Forward-Looking StatementsThis news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements include the expectations, plans and prospects for the Company, including potential clinical successes, anticipated regulatory approvals and future product launches, and projected revenues, margins, earnings and market shares. The statements made by the Company are based upon management’s current expectations and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include market conditions and other factors beyond the Company’s control and the risk factors and other cautionary statements described in the Company’s filings with the SEC, including those described in the Risk Factors and Cautionary Statements sections of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 1, 2011 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended July 2, 2011. The Company does not intend to update these statements and undertakes no duty to any person to provide any such update under any circumstance.

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