Mauna Kea Technologies Appoints Andre-Michel Ballester to Board of Directors

PARIS--(Marketwire - May 5, 2011) - Mauna Kea Technologies, the global leader in endomicroscopy, announced today that it has appointed André-Michel Ballester to its Board of Directors. Mr. Ballester brings more than 25 years' experience in the medical device industry to the Mauna Kea Technologies Board.

"André-Michel's experience leading strong international management teams, driving solid growth and developing long-lasting relationships with the medical community will be an invaluable asset to Mauna Kea Technologies," said Sacha Loiseau, president, CEO and founder of Mauna Kea Technologies. "We remain dedicated to building the future of endomicroscopy in numerous disciplines, while broadening and deepening the clinical evidence and use of Cellvizio in gastroenterology and pulmonology, our primary target markets. We welcome André-Michel to the Board and look forward to collaborating with him to develop strategies that will maximize our success and the utilization of endomicroscopy around the world."

Mr. Ballester is Chief Executive Officer of Sorin Group, the largest European cardiovascular medical device company and a world leader in cardiac surgery. He joined Sorin Group in 2004 as President of Sorin Cardiac Rhythm Management business unit and was appointed to his current position in 2007.

Prior to joining Sorin Group, Mr. Ballester held various positions at U.S.-based cardiac device maker Edwards Lifesciences, most recently Corporate Vice President EMEA, Asia and Latin America. For over a decade prior to Edwards' spin-off from Baxter, Mr. Ballester also held several executive positions in Europe and the U.S. and was appointed President, CardioVascular Group, Europe in 1997.

Andre-Michel Ballester also serves as a member of the board of directors of Carmat, a medical device company that develops a totally artificial heart for use in late-stage heart failure and of Intelligent Medical Implant GmbH (IMI), the developer of the Learning Retinal Implant System.

Mr. Ballester holds a Master degree in Engineering from Ecole Centrale, Lille, France and an MBA from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France.

Mr. Ballester's appointment is effective immediately.

About Mauna Kea Technologies
Mauna Kea Technologies is a global medical device company and a leader in endomicroscopic innovation. The company researches, develops and markets innovative tools to visualize and detect abnormalities in the gastro-intestinal and pulmonary tracts. Its flagship product, Cellvizio®, a probe-based Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy (pCLE) system, provides physicians and researchers high resolution cellular views of tissue inside the body. Large, international, multi-center clinical trials have demonstrated Cellvizio's ability to help physicians more accurately detect early forms of disease and make treatment decisions immediately. Designed to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs within a hospital, Cellvizio can be used with almost any endoscope. Cellvizio has 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European CE-Mark for use in the GI and pulmonary tracts.

For more information about Mauna Kea Technologies visit www.maunakeatech.com.