Volcano Achieves Major Milestone in Japan Direct Sales Initiative With Signing of Termination Agreement Wi...( SAN DIEGO July 8 /- Volcano Corporati...),Health

SAN DIEGO, July 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC), a leader in the development, manufacturing and sales of products for the diagnosis of coronary and peripheral artery disease, said today it has signed a termination agreement with its largest distributor in Japan, Goodman Company, Ltd. This agreement, which took effect today, will enable Volcano to accelerate its transition to a direct sales force in the market to support its intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and Functional Measurement (FM) consoles and disposables, as well as products currently in development.

"We are delighted to be completing this transition nearly a year ahead of our original timetable," said Scott Huennekens, president and chief executive officer of Volcano. "Japan is the largest IVUS market in the world. Given recent clinical data, Japan also represents a great market opportunity for our FM offerings, as well as the products in our pipeline, such as image-guided therapy, Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), Forward-Looking IVUS and Impact micro-catheters. By going direct, we hope to replicate in Japan the market share gains we have achieved in our other key geographies, such as the United States and Europe.

"We have already laid the groundwork for this transition, as we now have more than 40 sales reps and approximately 80 total personnel in Japan, and we expect to complete the customer transition process by the end of the third quarter," he added.

Huennekens said Volcano's transition to a direct sales force in Japan is important to the company for several reasons, including:

• It allows Volcano to be closer to Japanese physicians and the market so that the company's products can better meet the unique needs of the Japanese market. Additionally, Volcano believes that it will enable the
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