Cardica, Intuitive Surgical enter license agreement

Cardica, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRDC) today announced that Cardica and Intuitive Surgical, Inc. have entered into a license agreement providing Intuitive with a worldwide, exclusive license to Cardica's intellectual property, which relates to tissue cutting, stapling and clip appliers, for use in the robotics field.  Pursuant to the license agreement, Cardica and Intuitive may also enter into future product development agreements.

Intuitive has paid Cardica $12 million for a royalty-bearing license and equity investment in approximately 1.25 million shares of Cardica's common stock.  The license excludes vascular anastomosis applications.

"We are extremely pleased to enter into a license with Intuitive Surgical, the worldwide leader in robotic surgery, as we believe that coupling our microcutting-stapling technology with Intuitive's minimally-invasive surgery expertise will provide better clinical outcomes for patients around the globe," said Bernard A. Hausen, M.D., Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Cardica, Inc.  "The license agreement with Intuitive Surgical marks a major milestone for Cardica and our Microcutter 'staple-on-a-strip' platform, expanding the potential market reach and applicability of our technology significantly."

Further information with respect to the license agreement and equity investment will be contained in a Current Report on Form 8-K to be filed by Cardica with the Securities and Exchange Commission.