WARSAW, Ind., July 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Symmetry Medical, Inc. (NYSE: SMA), a leading independent provider of products to the global orthopedic device industry and other medical markets, announced today it has appointed Jose Fernandez to the newly created position of Senior Vice President of New Product Development. Mr. Fernandez brings a successful management philosophy of proven product development and an impressive intellectual property portfolio in both the cardiovascular and orthopedic device industries. Previously Mr. Fernandez served as Vice President of Research and Development with Disc Motion Technologies and held various management positions in product development with Cordis Neurovascular, a Johnson & Johnson company.

"We welcome Jose to the Symmetry Medical family and look forward to his future contributions to our growing product development portfolio," stated Brian Moore, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Symmetry Medical. "Symmetry's strong OEM relationships and direct sales channel to specialty surgeons through our SSI subsidiary positions the Company to benefit from an expanded offering of proprietary surgical products. This appointment demonstrates our commitment to these customers and strengthens our position as a diversified and leading company in the medical device industry."

About Symmetry Medical Inc.

Symmetry Medical Inc. is a leading independent provider of implants and related instruments and cases to the orthopedic device industry. The Company also designs, develops and produces these products for companies in other segments of the medical device market, including arthroscopy, dental, laparoscopy, osteobiologic and endoscopy sectors and provides limited specialized products and services to non-healthcare markets, such as the aerospace market.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in the press release regarding Symmetry Medical Inc.'s business, which are not historical facts, may be "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties, within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are predictive in nature and are frequently identified by the use of terms such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "believe," "estimate," "intend," and similar words indicating possible future expectations, events or actions. Such predictive statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results could differ materially from our current expectations. Certain factors that could cause actual results to differ include: the loss of one or more customers; the development of new products or product innovations by our competitors; product liability; changes in management; changes in conditions effecting the economy, orthopedic device manufacturers or the medical device industry generally; and changes in government regulation of medical devices and third-party reimbursement practices. We refer you to the "Risk Factors" and "Forward Looking Statements" sections in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as the Company's other filings with the SEC, which are available on the SEC's Web site at www.sec.gov. 


    Investors/Media:                      Contact:
    The Ruth Group                        Symmetry Medical Inc.
    Nick Laudico/Jason Rando              Fred L. Hite
    (646) 536-7030/7025                   Senior Vice President
    nlaudico@theruthgroup.com             Chief Financial Officer
    jrando@theruthgroup.com               (574) 371-2218

SOURCE Symmetry Medical, Inc.