Sorin Group, (MIL:SRN) (Reuters Code: SORN.MI), a global medical device company and a leader in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, announced today it has expanded its Munich manufacturing facility to accommodate growing worldwide demand for state-of-the-art cardiopulmonary technology. An opening ceremony marks the formal dedication of the new facility today, which includes tours for officials, customers and employees.

The expansion will increase the size of the current facility by 25 percent to approximately 11,000 square meters, including offices, laboratories and training facilities. The manufacturing floor space extension will allow the production capacity of heart-lung machines (HLM) and autotransfusion systems (ATS) to be significantly increased and it will enable the in-house manufacturing of heater-cooler systems.

Building on 40 years’ experience in developing and manufacturing cardiopulmonary solutions, Sorin Group is the global market leader with a market share approaching 70 percent in HLM implementations. The company’s Munich facility produces advanced cardiopulmonary systems, including hundreds of HLMs, ATS machines and blood-gas monitoring devices each year.

In addition to its German plant, Sorin Group operates facilities dedicated to cardiopulmonary bypass systems in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. and in Mirandola, Italy. In 2013, the company also started a greenfield manufacturing project in China to better serve the growing demands of the Chinese medical community.

The expansion of our Munich manufacturing plant marks another milestone for Sorin Group as we focus on further strengthening our leadership in the cardiac surgery arena,” said Michel Darnaud, President Cardiac Surgery Business Unit, Sorin Group. “The Munich expansion follows the recent delivery of our 10,000th heart- lung machine to Brigham and Women’s Hospital earlier this year.”

About Sorin Group’s cardiopulmonary products

The HLM helps sustain a patient undergoing an open-heart surgery procedure, providing blood oxygenation and circulation (extracorporeal support) to the brain and major organs while the patient's heart and lungs are temporarily bypassed. Every year, more than 1.5 million patients worldwide suffer from cardiac disease requiring extracorporeal support from these systems.

An ATS allows collection, processing and reinfusion of autologous blood during and after surgical interventions in many applications, including cardiac, orthopedic, vascular, obstetrics, trauma and others, as well as preoperative sequestration of whole blood components.

Sorin Group also offers HLM accessories, data management systems and disposable perfusion circuits as well as blood management systems, cannulae and other advanced cardiopulmonary products designed to enhance the exceptional results achieved by surgical teams.

About Sorin Group

Sorin Group (www.sorin.com) is a global, medical device company and a leader in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The Company develops, manufactures, and markets medical technologies for cardiac surgery and for the treatment of cardiac rhythm disorders. With over 3,500 employees worldwide, the Company focuses on two major therapeutic areas: Cardiac Surgery (cardiopulmonary products for open heart surgery and heart valve repair or replacement products) and Cardiac Rhythm Management (pacemakers, defibrillators and non invasive monitoring to diagnose and deliver anti-arrhythmia therapies as well as cardiac resynchronization devices for heart failure treatment). Every year, over one million patients are treated with Sorin Group devices in more than 100 countries.

For more information, please visit www.sorin.com.