Theragenics Corporation Establishes New Product Development Team

(BUSINESS WIRE)--Theragenics Corporation (NYSE: TGX), a medical device company serving the surgical products and prostate cancer treatment markets, today announced the hiring of Mr. Yem Chin as its Lead Product Development Engineer. Mr. Chin and his team will spearhead Theragenics’ new R&D “pipeline project.” The R&D team also includes Mr. Tom Johnson and Mr. Paul Scopton. Mr. Chin and the R&D team are charged with creating a pipeline of medical devices and sophisticated development services to support customers of the Company’s surgical products business segment. Mr. Chin has 40 years experience in medical device product development, including 28 years with Boston Scientific Corporation. He has been responsible for and supported developing products in the fields of interventional radiology, urology, gastro interventional, and cardiology. Mr. Chin holds over 50 patents related to medical devices.

The new R&D team will be supported by the entire asset base of Theragenics Corporation. Included in this asset base are the diverse processes and capabilities of Galt Medical, NeedleTech Products and CP Medical. These companies, which were acquired by Theragenics beginning in May 2005, comprise Theragenics’ surgical products business segment. This segment offers vascular access devices, specialty needle devices and wound closure products with applications in, among other areas, interventional cardiology, interventional radiology, vascular surgery, orthopedics, plastic surgery, dental, urology, veterinary, pain management, endoscopy, and spine. The team began operations October 1, 2008 in space leased near Boston, Massachusetts and is already working on, and is available to work on, products for all of the Company’s customers.

Ms. M. Christine Jacobs, Chairman and CEO commented, “We are fortunate to be able to attract product development engineers the caliber of Mr. Chin and his colleagues. We look forward to providing the customers of our surgical products business with an increased level of product development and speed to market.”

Tom Johnson has 35 years experience in the medical device industry. He has recently worked for Creganna Medical and has expertise in extrusion, mold design, process development and project management. Mr. Johnson holds over 20 patents to his credit.

Paul Scopton has 28 years experience in the medical device industry developing disposable interventional devices for use in interventional radiology, urology, endoscopy, and cardiology. Mr. Scopton has over 20 product launches and holds 5 patents to his credit.

Ms. Jacobs continued her comments, “Our recent acquisition of NeedleTech expanded our product offerings and our customer base of top tier medical device manufacturers. The addition of NeedleTech further accentuated an opportunity to more fully address the unmet needs of our customers. With a combined 103 years of medical device product and process development, we feel our new group is up to this task.”

Ms. Jacobs concluded, “With a focus on vascular access, specialty needles and wound closure markets, our new team provides significant development expertise that can offer our customers access to services they may lack, helping them to expedite line expansion. This R&D group will support our entire asset base and our dedication to high quality, U.S-based, medical device manufacturing. It is not our intent to compete with our customers. Instead, we intend to feed our manufacturing base with new product opportunities and growth. Mr. Chin and his colleagues, together with NeedleTech, Galt Medical, and CP Medical, give us this capability, supporting sustainable long-term growth in our surgical products segment.”

Theragenics Corporation (NYSE: TGX) operates two business segments: its surgical products business and its brachytherapy seed business. Its surgical products business (www.cpmedical.com, www.galtmedical.com, www.needletech.com) manufactures and distributes wound closure, vascular access, and specialty needle products. Wound closure products include sutures, needles and other surgical products. Vascular access includes introducers, guidewires and related products. Specialty needles include coaxial, biopsy, spinal and disposable veress needles, access trocars, and other needle based products. The Company’s surgical products segment serves a number of markets and applications, including, among other areas, interventional cardiology, interventional radiology, vascular surgery, orthopedics, plastic surgery, dental, urology, veterinary, pain management, endoscopy, and spine. The Company’s brachytherapy business manufactures and markets its premier product, the palladium-103 TheraSeed® device (www.theraseed.com) and I-Seed, an iodine-125 based device, which are used primarily in the minimally invasive treatment of localized prostate cancer. For additional information, call Theragenics’ Investor Relations Department at (800) 998-8479 or visit www.theragenics.com.

This press release contains forward looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the accuracy of which is necessarily subject to risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, statements regarding future growth, opportunities and investments, and anticipated positive results in general. Actual results may differ materially due to a variety of factors, including, among other things, uncertainties related to the integration of acquired companies into the Theragenics organization, capitalization on opportunities for growth within the Surgical Products business, ability to recognize value from areas of shared expertise, risks and uncertainties related to competition within the medical device industry, development and growth of new applications within the markets for wound closure, vascular access, specialty needles and, more broadly, medical devices, competition from other companies within the wound closure, vascular access, specialty needle and medical device markets, competition from other methods of treatment, new product development cycles, effectiveness and execution of marketing and sales programs, changes in product pricing, changes in costs of materials used in production processes, continued acceptance and demand of the Company’s products by the markets in which it operates, introduction and/or availability of competitive products by others, potential changes in third-party reimbursement, including Medicare reimbursement as administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), implementation of the new legislation by CMS, physician training, third-party distribution agreements, ability to execute on acquisition opportunities on favorable terms and successfully integrate any acquisitions, and other factors set forth from time to time in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

All forward looking statements and cautionary statements included in this document are made as of the date hereof based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to update any forward looking statement or cautionary statement.

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Tour De Georgia Presented By AT&T Generates $38.6M Direct Economic Impact For State Of Georgia

One month after the completion of the sixth annual Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T, a post-event evaluation has determined that the direct economic impact of the event reached $38.6 million for Georgia. This surpassed the 2007 economic impact number of $27 million by 40%.

The 2008 Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T, recognized as America’s premier, professional cycling event and rolling festival that covered over 600 miles and seven days each spring, concluded April 27 in Atlanta. Economic impact was determined using data collected by crowd intercept surveys at all start and finish host venue locations.

North Georgia College and University managed the survey development and data collection. The Bureau of Business Research and Economic Development of Georgia Southern University was responsible for data input and analysis. The regional input-output modeling program IMPLAN was used to construct a model of Georgia and models of each region by stage. A total of 1,196 completed surveys were collected between April 21-27 at the 12 host communities which staged either a Tour start or a Tour finish venue.

“We can’t tell how much of the change is due to methodology, but we believe that one of the reasons for the large increase (in economic impact) over last year is inflation, particularly in gasoline. Some of the increase is also due to the significant increase in the number of international visitors. The increase in international visitors is probably due to the devaluation of the dollar making a U.S. trip more affordable,” said Phyllis Isley, Director, Bureau of Business Research and Economic Development at Georgia Southern University.

Economic indicators included assessment of dollars spent by visitors (residents of the area not included) for meals, lodging, transportation, retail and miscellaneous recreation. Analysis of crowd sizes was determined by Georgia State Patrol and local law enforcement estimates. While the attendance figures for 2008 were down 20% from last year, over 400,000 this year as compared to 515,000 in 2007 and 500,000 in 2006, spending was up significantly during the event.

"We were delighted to host the Team Time Trial stage of the Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T. "For a first time event -- and on a Thursday -- we were extremely pleased with the spectator turnout and the event overall," said Road Atlanta President Geoff Lee, regarding an estimated attendance of 20,000 fans at Stage 4. “A majority of these very enthusiastic cycling fans were making their first visit to Road Atlanta and obviously had a good time. From a marketing standpoint, the Tour was very successful for us. We hope these new fans will come back for our major events like the 11th annual Petit Le Mans Oct. 1-4."

The Tour was founded in 2003 as a tourism vehicle to showcase Georgia and its communities by the marketing arm of the state, now known as the Georgia Department of Economic Development. GDEcD is responsible for developing tourism, which is Georgia’s second largest industry behind agriculture. The Tour has proven that it is indeed a strong sports property that is more than a bicycle race. In just six years since its inception, the Tour de Georgia has produced big numbers – 3.2 million spectators and over $186 million direct economic impact to the state of Georgia.

“The Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T is a terrific event that brings long-lasting economic impact to Georgia,” said Ken Stewart, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the agency that serves as a marketing arm for the state and presenting sponsor of the Tour de Georgia. “Our communities look forward each year not only to the excitement surrounding the Tour, but to the worldwide exposure they gain by hosting it. The Tour de Georgia is not only one of the world’s premiere cycling events, it is a major international tourism attraction for Georgia.”

In addition, the Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T is proud to have set a record in 2008 for funds raised for its beneficiaries, the Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and the Georgia Cancer Coalition. This was the first year the Tour engaged with helping Children’s Healthcare, and it was the sixth consecutive year partnering with the Coalition. With donations pledges from Tour sponsors and generated by ancillary events throughout race week, the Tour de Georgia was able to donate over $500,000 for its charities, doubling what had been done in the past five years.

"The Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T is an international sporting event that brings thousands of spectators and cyclists to our great state. We also worked very hard to promote healthy living and lifestyles among our citizens and guests. This year's Health & Wellness Expos were a hit at every stop, from Savannah to Atlanta. We were able to a raise a record amount of money and awareness for our beneficiary as well, Children's Healthcare," said Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, who serves as the Chairman of the Tour de Georgia Foundation.

The Tour de Georgia gained international stature in 2004 when Tour de France champion and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong won the event. In 2005 the Tour de Georgia was elevated to a 2. Hors Classe (2.HC) road cycling competition by the world’s governing body of the sport, the Union Cycliste International (UCI) and expanded from six to seven days. This made the Tour de Georgia one of the highest rated stage races outside of Europe, and gained the distinction as a tune-up event for the prestigious Tour de France. Four teams in the field this year expect to race in the Tour de France in July, including American-based teams High Road and Slipstream Chipotle presented by H30, German-based Gerolsteiner, and Denmark’s Team CSC. The 2008 Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T was won by Team High Road’s Kanstantin Sivtsov of Belarus.

2008 Overall State Direct Economic Impact:
- $ 38.6 million is an increase of 40% from 2007, which generated a direct economic impact of $27.56 million
- 41% of spectators indicated they stayed more than one night during their visit to Georgia, specifically to watch the Tour
- Of those overnight visitors, 6% were International visitors (an overall increase of 5% from 2007)
- The average overnight visitor spent $380 per day at the Tour; 55% of that going to accommodations and transportation costs.