UTICA, N.Y., May 23, 2002 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- CONMED Corporation (Nasdaq: CNMD) today announced the pricing of a follow-on offering by the Company of 3,000,000 shares of its common stock being offered for sale at $ 23.50 per share. This offering is expected to close on May 29, 2002 and all shares are being sold by the Company. The Company also has granted the underwriters a 30 day option to purchase an additional 450,000 shares of common stock to cover any over-allotments.

A copy of the prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained from the managing underwriters: Salomon Smith Barney Inc., 388 Greenwich Street, New York NY 10013 (Telephone +1-212-816-6000), and UBS Warburg LLC, Prospectus Department, 299 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10171 (Telephone +1-212-821-3000).

CONMED is a medical technology company specializing in instruments, implants, and video equipment for arthroscopic sports medicine, and powered surgical instruments, such as drills and saws, for orthopedic, ENT, neuro-surgery, and other surgical specialties. The Company is also a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of advanced surgical devices, including radio frequency, or RF, electrosurgery systems used routinely to cut and cauterize tissue in nearly all types of surgical procedures worldwide, and endoscopy products such as trocars, clip appliers, scissors, and surgical staplers. The Company also manufactures and sells a full line of ECG electrodes for heart monitoring and other patient care products. Headquartered in Utica, New York, the Company's 2,500 employees distribute its products worldwide from eight manufacturing locations.

The shares of common stock will be issued pursuant to a Registration Statement that has been declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The shares are only offered by means of the prospectus included in the Registration Statement related to this offering. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on certain assumptions and contingencies that involve risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and relate to the Company's performance on a going-forward basis. The forward-looking statements in this press release involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results, performance or trends, including the above mentioned anticipated revenues and earnings, to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements herein or in previous disclosures. The Company believes that all forward-looking statements made by it have a reasonable basis, but there can be no assurance that management's expectations, beliefs or projections as expressed in the forward-looking statements will actually occur or prove to be correct. In addition to general industry and economic conditions, factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to: (i) the failure of any one or more of the assumptions stated above, to prove to be correct; (ii) the risks relating to forward-looking statements discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2001; (iii) cyclical purchasing patterns from customers, end-users and dealers; (iv) timely release of new products, and acceptance of such new products by the market; (v) the introduction of new products by competitors and other competitive responses; (vi) the possibility that any new acquisition or other transaction may require the Company to reconsider its financial assumptions and goals/targets; and or (vii) the Company's ability to devise and execute strategies to respond to market conditions.

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SOURCE CONMED Corporation

CONTACT:          Robert Shallish, Chief Financial Officer of CONMED Corporation,
                  +1-315-624-3206; or Theresa Vogt or Lanie Fladell, Investors, or Dan Budwick,
                  media, all of Morgen-Walke Associates, +1-212-850-5600
                  /Company News On-Call:  http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/201850.html 

URL:              http://www.conmed.com 
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