AtriCure Announces Leadership Promotions

WEST CHESTER, Ohio --(Business Wire)--

AtriCure, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATRC), a medical device company and a leader in cardiac surgical ablation systems for the treatment of atrial fibrillation, or AF, and systems for the exclusion of the left atrial appendage, today announced three promotions of personnel into key leadership positions.

Douglas J. Seith has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing and will be responsible for strengthening commercial execution and market development in conjunction with expanding sales. Doug has spent nine years at AtriCure and has over 25 years of cardiac surgery, cardiology and general surgery sales and sales leadership experience. Prior to joining AtriCure, Doug held leadership and/or sales positions with A-Med/EmoblX, Inc., Heartport, Inc., Scimed Life Systems, a division of Boston Scientific, Inc. and Automated Instruments (a division of United States Surgical Corporation).
Michael Rogge has been promoted to Vice President of Marketing, and under his expanded responsibility, will be focused on market development activities and physician education programs that reach newly redefined target markets. Mike has over 22 years of medical device experience, the past seven with AtriCure building partnerships with Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and leading customer-driven product development initiatives to drive revenue growth. Prior to joining AtriCure, Mr. Rogge held positions at Ethicon Endo-Surgery, a Johnson & Johnson Company, Hill-Rom, and Baxter International.
M. Andrew Wade, CPA has been promoted to Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Andy has over 15 years of financial experience, the past five with AtriCure building the finance and accounting team. Prior to joining AtriCure, Andy held various financial positions with Macy's Inc., Saks Inc., and Arthur Andersen.

"I am looking forward to the cotinued contributions from Doug, Mike and Andy in their new roles, each of whom has been instrumental to AtriCure's success to date. These promotions, combined with our focus in building out our marketing and education initiatives along with our continued international expansion under Pat Kennedy's leadership, will help us accelerate growth in the coming years," said Mike Carrel, President and Chief Executive Officer of AtriCure. "Additionally, Andy provides great financial and operational discipline for AtriCure and we anticipate a seamless transition into his expanded role as Chief Financial Officer."

Mr. Carrel continued, "I am pleased with our growth in 2012 which was driven by the strengths of our technology, product platforms and customer relationships. As we enter 2013, I am confident in our ability to further develop and expand our training and education program, and position AtriCure to achieve its full potential, creating value for customers and shareholders. I look forward to continuing to build our team of talented and committed employees at AtriCure."

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 for the treatment of atrial fibrillation, or AF, and systems for the exclusion of the left atrial appendage. The Company believes cardiothoracic surgeons are adopting its ablation products for the treatment of AF during concomitant open-heart surgical procedures and 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 not cleared or approved certain AtriCure products for the treatment of AF or a reduction in the risk of stroke.

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 (News - Alert) filings, such as fluctuation of quarterly financial results, reliance on third party manufacturers and suppliers, litigation 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.