During the trial of the case in November and December of 2000, J&J asserted that the NIR® stent infringed six claims from four different patents. The jury found that five of the six claims asserted by J&J were either invalid or not infringed, but found one claim infringed under the doctrine of equivalents and awarded damages in the amount of $324.4 million. In March 2002, the judge set aside the damage award, but upheld the remainder of the verdict, and held that two of the four patents had been obtained through inequitable conduct in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In response to Boston Scientific's motion for reconsideration of the liability verdict, the judge has now also set aside the verdict of infringement.

The judge also entered a final judgment holding that the stents of a co-defendant, Medtronic AVE, did not infringe J&J's patents and stayed further proceedings in the BSC case until after any appeal of that judgment by J&J. "We are very pleased by the court's decision to set aside the jury's verdict," said Jim Tobin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Boston Scientific. "This is a major vindication of our position that the NIR® stent technology does not infringe any of the J&J patents. Setting aside the infringement verdict is additional good news that comes on the heels of the court's recent decision to set aside the damage verdict. These two decisions are extremely good news and give us great hope that in the final analysis our position will be upheld."

Boston Scientific is a worldwide developer, manufacturer and marketer of medical devices. The Company's products are used in a broad range of interventional medical specialties.

This press release contains forward-looking statements. The Company wishes to caution the reader of this press release that actual results may differ from those discussed in the forward-looking statements and may be adversely affected by, among other things, risks associated with litigation, the Company's overall business strategy, and other factors described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.