Sydney, 8th June 2006: Cochlear Limited (COH.AX) Cochlear, the world leader in implantable hearing solutions, was last night awarded Gold for the Nucleus Freedom cochlear implant system at the prestigious international Medical Design Excellence Awards (MDEA) held in New York.

The Medical Design Excellence Awards is the premier awards program for the international medical technology community, recognizing the achievements of medical product manufacturers and the many people behind the scenes-engineers, scientists, designers and clinicians-who are responsible for the groundbreaking innovations that are changing the face of healthcare.

Cochlear's Freedom^TM system was launched last year with a number of breakthroughs in hearing technology and has since become the number one selling cochlear implant system worldwide.

Dr Roberts said that the award recognised the technological innovation that Cochlear has continued to bring to market over the years.

"We are honoured that the Nucleus Freedom has been recognized by MDEA, it is a prestigious organisation and we're thrilled to have been selected by a group of experts from a wide range of biomedical engineering, medicine and design-related fields," said Dr Chris Roberts, CEO, Cochlear Limited.

"Nucleus Freedom represents our fourth-generation cochlear implant system and has enabled Cochlear to bring major new benefits in hearing performance to market."

These innovations include the first custom designed programmable DSP chip for an ear level speech processor; a splash proof membrane that enables the external electronics to withstand water; new sound pre-processing algorithms which improve hearing in previously challenging environments; and a unique modular design enabling the user to change in seconds the configuration of the device to wear behind the ear or on the body.

The Gold recognition for Cochlear goes one better than the Silver received by the company in the same category five years ago for their Nucleus Contour device.

MDEA winning entries excel in the areas of product innovation, design and engineering achievement, end-user benefit, and cost effectiveness in manufacturing and healthcare delivery.

Dr Roberts announced that four of its global technology partners were also recognised at the awards last night.

"It is a further testament to the Freedom system, that such respected technology leaders, Philips, Helbling and Semtech from Switzerland, Crystalaid from Australia were each honoured as a 2006 MDEA Supplier for their major roles in contributing to this winning technology.

"Collaboration with the best in class has been really fundamental to our ability to provide these improved benefits in hearing performance", Dr Roberts said.

The MDEA program is open worldwide to companies and individuals involved in the design, engineering, manufacturing or distribution of finished medical devices or medical packaging; with awards offered in 10 different categories.

About Cochlear Implants
Cochlear implants are a routine treatment for those adults and children with a moderate - to-profound hearing loss.

A cochlear implant is a technological device that bypasses the damaged hair cells and stimulates the hearing nerve directly, providing useful hearing and improved communication abilities to the implant user.

About Cochlear Limited
Cochlear is the world leader in implantable hearing solutions and pioneered the modern day cochlear implant.

With its global headquarters in Sydney, Australia, Cochlear today operates in more than 70 countries supporting more than 100,000 recipients of its cochlear and bone conduction implant technology.

For further information contact:
Dr Chris Roberts, CEO
Ph: +61 2 9428 6555

Ms Dyranda Hortle, Director of Marketing, Asia Pacific
Ph: +61 2 9428 6555