Sunshine Heart Appoints New US Board Member

EDEN PRAIRIE, MN--(Marketwire - January 31, 2011) - Sunshine Heart, Inc. (ASX: SHC), a global medical device company focused on innovative technologies for moderate heart failure, today announced Paul Buckman, chairman and chief executive officer of Pathway Medical Technologies, Inc., has been appointed to the Sunshine Heart board as a non-executive director. With the addition of Mr. Buckman, the Sunshine Heart Board of Directors includes six Australian and two US-based board members. 

Sunshine Heart Chairman, Nicholas Callinan said, "We're pleased to welcome Mr. Buckman to Sunshine Heart's Board of Directors, and we look forward to profiting from his insight as we continue to develop our technology during this development and growth phase of our business. We anticipate Mr. Buckman's expertise will supplement our already strong board, which supports our goal of creating products that may help people with cardiovascular disease."

Prior to joining Pathway Medical Technologies, Inc., a private medical device company that develops medical devices for the treatment of peripheral artery disease, Mr. Buckman served as president of global medical device company St Jude Medical's cardiovascular division.

Previously, he was president of Boston Scientific's cardiovascular division where he oversaw the global interventional cardiology and radiology businesses, which together garnered revenues in excess of US$2 billion. 

Mr. Buckman also co-founded and served as chairman and chief executive officer of EV3, LLC, a global medical device technology company focused on endovascular therapies. Under his guidance, EV3, LLC, saw revenues across multiple product franchises and global distribution of more than US$80 million. The company employed more than 600 employees before being acquired by Covidien, Inc., for US$2.6 billion.

Mr. Buckman said, "I am honored to be joining Sunshine Heart's distinguished Board of Directors. It is an exciting time for the company with the pending transition from a clinical feasibility study to initiation of a pivotal trial. This is a very exciting emerging area of therapy and I believe that Sunshine's technology has the potential to be a true game changer. Additionally, having worked with Dave Rosa in the past, I am very enthusiastic about supporting his efforts as CEO in taking the company forward on all fronts."

About Sunshine Heart^®
Sunshine Heart (ASX: SHC) a global medical device company committed to the commercialization of the C-Pulse^® Heart Assist System, a minimally invasive, implantable, non-blood contacting, heart assist therapy for the treatment of moderate heart failure. C-Pulse relieves the symptoms of heart failure through the use of counterpulsation technology which enables an increase in cardiac output, an increase in coronary blood flow and a reduction in the heart's pumping load. The Company has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct a 20-patient U.S. clinical trial with the C-Pulse System. Sunshine Heart is a Delaware-based Corporation headquartered in Minneapolis with a subsidiary presence in Australia. The Company has been listed on the ASX since September 2004. For more information, please visit www.sunshineheart.com.

Contact Information:

Media Contact: U.S.
Drew Avril
CoActive Health Communications
(718) 871-7117
davril@coactivepr.com

Media Contact: Australia
Andrew Geddes
CoActive Health Communications
+61 (408) 677 734
ageddes@coactivepr.com