Return to News/Press Releases Page

MINRAD International, Inc. Announces CE Mark Approval for the Light Sabre™ Product Line

Orchard Park, NY (September 11, 2006) – MINRAD International, Inc. (BUF.AMEX) announces that it has received CE Mark approval for its Light Sabre™ product line. This product line also meets the international quality requirements of ISO 13485:2003 and the Canadian Medical Devices Conformity Assessment System (CMDCAS).

The CE Mark is an indication that Minrad International, Inc. has met the essential health, safety and environmental protection requirements detailed in the European Directives. The receipt of the CE Mark assures physicians and patients of the safety of the product. This regulatory milestone will allow MINRAD International, Inc. to market the Light Sabre™ product line throughout the European Union. MINRAD International, Inc. currently has two European Image Guidance partners and is in discussions with several others in the region

The Light Sabre™ product line is to be used in conjunction with the SabreSource™ real-time image guidance system, which is designed and manufactured by MINRAD, Inc. Using this patented technology, the Light SabreTM line of disposable procedure needles will provide both accuracy (+ 3mm) and reliable alignment for a physician performing minimally invasive procedures. Essentially, the Light SabreTM technology relies on the inherent accuracy of the patented SabreSourceTM real-time image guidance system. When the Light SabreTM procedure needles are used with the SabreSourceTM laser beam for guidance, the physician is given real time feedback that they are using the correct point of entry and angle of approach to the subsurface target.

The Light SabreTM technology is based on the principle that if a narrow beam of light enters one end of a tube and exits the other end through a light trap, the tube must be aligned with the light beam. Using a longer tube will result in a more accurate alignment of the tube with the light beam. When the Light SabreTM device is aligned with the SabreSourceTM laser beam, the beam enters one end of the Light SabreTM “Collimating Tube” and exits the other, causing the light dispersal element at the end of the “Collimating Tube” to illuminate. This allows the physician and everyone in the operating room to know, in real-time, that the instrument is visibly “on-line” to the sub-surface target.

Contact: Laura M. Rovner, Director of Light Sabre™ Products
lrovner@minrad.com

About the Company
MINRAD International, Inc. is an interventional pain management company with real-time image guidance and anesthesia and analgesia product lines. The real-time image guidance products facilitate minimally invasive surgery especially for pain management and have broad applications in orthopedics, neurosurgery, and interventional radiology. These devices enable medical professionals to improve the accuracy of interventional procedures and reduce radiation exposure. MINRAD International also manufactures and markets generic inhalation anesthetics for use in connection with human and veterinary surgical procedures. The company is developing a drug/drug delivery system for conscious sedation, which, similar to nitrous oxide in dental surgery, provides a patient with pain relief without loss of consciousness. Additional information can be found at the company’s website, www.minrad.com.
.
* * * * * * * * * *
The information contained in this news release, other than historical information, consists of forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in such statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by its forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, Minrad International’s limited operating history and business development associated with being a growth stage company; its dependence on key personnel; its need to attract and retain technical and managerial personnel; its ability to execute its business strategy; the intense competition it faces; its ability to protect its intellectual property and proprietary technologies; its exposure to product liability claims resulting from the use of its products; general economic and capital market conditions; financial conditions of its customers and their perception of its financial condition relative to that of its competitors; as well as those risks described under the heading “Risk Factors” of Minrad International's Form 10-KSB, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 29, 2006. Although Minrad International, Inc. believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct.