Abiomed Announces Several Reimbursement Milestones

• Four Commercial Insurers Institute Broad Impella Coverage
• Impella Economic Study Published in The Journal of Managed Care Medicine (JMCM)

DANVERS, Mass., March 4, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Abiomed, Inc. (Nasdaq:ABMD), a leading provider of breakthrough heart support technologies, today provided a reimbursement update. Abiomed announced several recent Impella coverage decisions from national payers including Humana, UnitedHealthcare Medicare Risk, Independence Blue Cross and Capital BlueCross. The recently updated coverage decisions include new Impella policies in the payers' commercial and/or Medicare Advantage plans.

Additionally, an economic study on the use of percutaneous ventricular assist devices (pVAD) was published in the February edition of The Journal of Managed Care Medicine (JMCM), "A Budget Impact Model to Estimate the Cost Dynamics of Treating High-Risk Heart Failure Patients with Advanced Percutaneous Cardiac Assist Devices: The Payer Perspective."

The study developed a Budget Impact Model (BIM) to estimate the annual direct medical costs of treatment and the combined incremental budget impact of introducing a pVAD treatment option. A BIM is a standard approach used by most commercial payers today to assess impact on their spend per member. The study concluded that the per-member per-month (PMPM) impact of the use of pVADS in very challenging patient populations was minimal throughout the technology adoption curve and that patients did not require expensive readmissions for hospital care.

"In this era of healthcare reform, these models help identify the most effective and efficient ways to manage patients, particularly patients with the potential to generate significant costs if not managed properly," said David Gregory, MPA, FACHE, author of the study and Executive Vice President and Partner, Presscott Associates - A Division of ParenteBeard, LLC.

"New clinical guidelines, coupled with clinical and economic studies like this, are all paving the way for Impella to become the new standard of care," said Michael R. Minogue, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Abiomed

Data for this study were obtained from a nationally-recognized database compiled by OptumInsight, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) comprising claims generated by a national commercial health plan consisting of approximately 25 million members. This model tracked patients for a full year subsequent to the initial hospital stay.

The Journal of Managed Care Medicine(JMCM) is the official publication of National Association of Managed Care Physicians (NAMCP). The mission of NAMCP is to improve patient outcomes by providing educational material, evidence-based tools and resources to medical directors from purchasers, plans and provider systems. The JMCM article can be viewed online at: http://www.namcp.org/journals/jmcm/articles/16-1/budget_impact.pdf

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 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 the potential for future losses, complex manufacturing, high quality requirements, dependence on limited sources of supply, competition, technological change, government regulation, litigation matters, 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 most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and 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.