St. Croix Medical® Hires New President and C.E.O. to Lead the Company

Minneapolis, MN-St. Croix Medical®, a high-tech medical device company nearing completion of the world's only totally implantable hearing restoration system, announced today that Mr. Hans Neisz has joined the company as President and Chief Executive Officer.

Neisz brings valuable disciplines and experiences to St. Croix Medical® with degrees in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering coupled with many years in leadership roles for medical device companies, such as Medtronic, Inc. and American Medical Systems, Inc.

During his eleven years at Medtronic, Neisz's entrepreneurial and leadership skills were utilized in managing programs at Medtronic's International Research Center in the Netherlands, as Director of R&D with Medtronic's Corporate Ventures and as General Manager of Medtronic's Functional Diagnostics Division.

Neisz joined American Medical Systems in 1999 as Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Research and Development. In addition to directing a substantial expansion of the company's product portfolio, Neisz was a member of the executive team that successfully realized American Medical System's initial public offering in August of 2000.

St. Croix Medical® is pleased to employ an executive so widely experienced in all aspects of U.S. and International medical device development and commercialization. Neisz's acquired attributes comprise the wealth of experiences required to lead St. Croix Medical's organization towards a successful completion of clinical trials, resulting in the market introduction of the first fully implantable hearing restoration system.

St. Croix Medical® is nearing completion of the world's only totally implantable technology to restore the hearing function of persons afflicted with high moderate to severe hearing loss. The Envoy™ System employs technology used in implantable cardiac pacemakers, implantable defibrillators, neurological implantable systems, cochlear implants and other medical electronic devices to deliver a completely invisible, biocompatible, effective therapy for patients with moderate and severe hearing loss.

Several U.S. and foreign patents cover the Envoy™ System, manufactured by St. Croix Medical®.