REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Nov. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Perclose, Inc. (Nasdaq: PERC)
today announced that it was awarded the Phoenix Hall of Fame for Business
Leadership in the Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry for the Most
Promising New Product of 1999 by Chief Executive Officers at the Phoenix '99
Medical Device Conference for Chief Executive Officers.  The Hall of Fame
awards recognize outstanding achievements, innovation and leadership in the
medical device and diagnostic industry.  The awards were made via a ballot
vote distributed to more than 800 senior industry executives from around the
world.
    The Most Promising New Product award honors a product that shows promise
to advance the practice of medicine significantly by reducing the cost and
improving the quality of health care.  Perclose's Percutaneous Vascular
Surgery products were introduced in the United States in 1997 and have been
established as one of the fastest growing product categories in the
cardiovascular device industry in this decade.
    Hank Plain, Perclose's President and Chief Executive Officer, commented,
"It is an honor for our team at Perclose to be selected by industry executives
as having the most promising new product in this rapidly growing product
category".
    The Phoenix Hall of Fame and the Phoenix 99 Conference are sponsored by
the Biomedical Marketing Association; Institutional Venture Partners (IVP); In
Vivo: The Business and Medicine Report; Pricewaterhouse Coopers, LLP; and
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
    Perclose, based in Redwood City, California, was founded in 1992 and
designs, manufactures and markets less invasive medical devices that automate
the surgical closure or connection of blood vessels.  The Prostar(R),
Techstar(R), and Heartflo(TM) products use a platform technology that allows
hand held devices to remotely, automatically and precisely deploy needles and
sutures for vascular repair.  The surgical approach that the Prostar(R) and
Techstar(R) products use distinguishes them from the limited number of
competitors in the femoral artery closure device product category.
    The Prostar(R) products, marketed in the U.S. and internationally,
surgically close the arterial access site in the femoral artery following
catheterization procedures such as angioplasty, stenting and atherectomy.  The
Techstar(R) products, also marketed worldwide, surgically close the arterial
access site in the femoral artery following diagnostic angiography procedures.
These patented, proprietary products offer superior clinical treatment, more
rapid recovery, and a lower treatment cost alternative to the standard method
of closing arterial access sites.  The Heartflo(TM) System, which is designed
to automate the surgical connection of blood vessels during conventional and
minimally invasive coronary artery bypass surgery, is in development.
Perclose common stock is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol
PERC.
    Certain statements in this news release, including statements relating to
the Company's growth, profitability and financial results and the Company's
product development efforts, contain forward looking information.  The
Company's actual results may differ from those anticipated by such
forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties, including the risk
that new products may not prove to be safe or effective in clinical trials,
risks associated with receipt and timing of regulatory approvals, including
approvals to conduct clinical trials and to market products commercially,
market acceptance of the Company's products, risk of adverse determinations in
litigation relating to patents and intellectual property rights, risks
associated with manufacturing scale-up and increases in production volumes,
risks associated with product recalls and the management of growth and other
risks, including those set forth in the Company's periodic filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
    For more information on Perclose via fax at no cost, call 800-PRO-INFO,
ticker symbol PERC.

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