AtriCure Announces Tentative Settlement with the Department of Justice

WEST CHESTER, Ohio, Nov 04, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
ATRC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- AtriCure, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATRC), a medical device company and a leader in
cardiac surgical ablation systems, today announced that it has reached a
tentative agreement, subject to completion and approval of a written
settlement agreement, with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to resolve
the issues raised in the DOJ's investigation and the related qui tam
complaint regarding the marketing of the Company's surgical ablation
devices. The agreement includes AtriCure's assertion that the Company
and its employees have not engaged in any wrongdoing or illegal activity.

Pursuant to the tentative agreement, AtriCure would pay $3.8 million
plus interest over a five-year period. Payments during the five-year
period, inclusive of interest, would be $0.5 million, $0.5 million,
$0.65 million, $1.0 million and $1.5 million, respectively. AtriCure has
recorded a settlement reserve of $3.8 million related to the agreement
in its financial statements for its quarter ended September 30, 2009.
Further, as is typical of settlements of this nature, AtriCure has
agreed, subject to completion and approval of a written agreement, to
enter into a corporate integrity agreement with the Office of Inspector
General of the Department of Health and Human Services.

About AtriCure, Inc. AtriCure,
Inc. is a medical device company and a leader in developing,
manufacturing and selling innovative cardiac surgical ablation systems
designed to create precise lesions, or scars, in cardiac, or heart,
tissue. Medical journals have described the adoption by leading
cardiothoracic surgeons of the AtriCure Isolator(R) bipolar
ablation system as a treatment alternative during open-heart surgical
procedures to create lesions in cardiac tissue to block the abnormal
electrical impulses that cause atrial fibrillation, or AF, a rapid,
irregular quivering of the upper chambers of the heart. Additionally,
medical journals and leading cardiothoracic surgeons have described the
AtriCure Isolator system as a promising treatment alternative
for patients who may be candidates for sole-therapy minimally invasive
procedures. AF affects more than 5.5 million people worldwide and
predisposes them to a five-fold increased risk of stroke. The FDA has
cleared the AtriCure Isolator system and AtriCure's multifunctional pen
and Coolrail(TM) linear ablation device, for the ablation, or
destruction, of cardiac tissue during surgical procedures. Additionally,
the FDA has cleared AtriCure's multifunctional pen for temporary pacing,
sensing, stimulating and recording during the evaluation of cardiac
arrhythmias and AtriCure's Cryo1(TM) system for the
cryosurgical treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. To date, the FDA has not
cleared or approved AtriCure's products for the treatment of AF.

Forward-Looking Statements This
press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements include statements that address activities, events or
developments that AtriCure expects, believes or anticipates will or may
occur in the future, such as earnings estimates, other predictions of
financial performance, launches by AtriCure of new products and market
acceptance of AtriCure's products. Forward-looking statements are based
on AtriCure's experience and perception of current conditions, trends,
expected future developments and other factors it believes are
appropriate under the circumstances and are subject to numerous risks
and uncertainties, many of which are beyond AtriCure's control. These
risks and uncertainties include the rate and degree of market acceptance
of AtriCure's products, AtriCure's ability to develop and market new and
enhanced products, the timing of and ability to obtain and maintain
regulatory clearances and approvals for its products, the timing of and
ability to obtain reimbursement of procedures utilizing AtriCure's
products, competition from existing and new products and procedures or
AtriCure's ability to effectively react to other risks and uncertainties
described from time to time in AtriCure's SEC filings, such as
fluctuation of quarterly financial results, reliance on third party
manufacturers and suppliers, litigation (including the purported class
action lawsuits, qui tam complaint and Department of Justice
investigation) or other proceedings, government regulation and stock
price volatility. AtriCure does not guarantee any forward-looking
statement, and actual results may differ materially from those
projected. AtriCure undertakes no obligation to publicly update any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.

SOURCE: AtriCure, Inc.

AtriCure, Inc. 
Julie A. Piton, 513-755-4561 
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer 
jpiton@atricure.com

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