Symmetry Medical Announces FDA Clearance of its FlashPak® Evolution Valve

Symmetry Medical Inc. announced today that it received United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510K clearance for its FLASH PAK® Evolution valve.

Next Generation Valve Designed for Ease of Use and Ease of Maintenance

WARSAW, Ind. , Aug. 28, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --Symmetry Medical Inc. (NYSE:SMA), a leading global source of innovative medical device solutions, including surgical instruments, orthopedic implants, and sterilization cases and trays, announced today that it received United States Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) 510K clearance for its FLASH PAK® Evolution valve.

The Evolution valve is the next generation valve for Symmetry's market leading, immediate use (flash) sterilization product, FLASH PAK®, and is distributed exclusively through Symmetry Surgical. The patent pending stainless steel construction of the new valve is designed for ease of use and simplicity of care.

Chris Huntington, Chief Operating Officer of Symmetry Surgical, said, "Making care and maintenance of our products easy is a key mission of Symmetry Surgical. The Evolution valve brings a new level of innovation to our market leading FLASH PAK®; a product that clinicians have grown to depend on for over 20 years."

About Symmetry Surgical Inc.
Symmetry Surgical is dedicated to developing quality surgical instruments that meet the needs of clinicians and help improve the lives of patients. Our portfolio brings together the product lines of Specialty Surgical Instrumentation (SSi), Olsen Medical and the recently acquired surgical instruments division Codman & Shurtleff, Inc. Our well-known brands include BOOKWALTER®, GREENBERG™, RILEY™, OLSEN™, ULTRA™, QUAD-LOCK™, FLASH PAK®, RAPIDCLEAN®, OPTI-LENGTH®, CLASSIC® and CLASSIC PLUS®. Headquartered in Nashville , Symmetry Surgical is a wholly owned subsidiary of Symmetry Medical Inc (NYSE:SMA).

About Symmetry Medical Inc.
Symmetry Medical Inc. is a leading global source of innovative medical device solutions, including surgical instruments, orthopedic implants, and sterilization cases and trays. The Company's thousands of Teammates provide design, development and worldwide production capabilities for these products to customers in the orthopedic industry, other medical device markets, and specialized non-healthcare markets. Symmetry's trusted reputation and brands, broad Intellectual Property portfolio and commitment to innovation enable it to collaborate with hundreds of global medical device manufacturers as well as thousands of hospitals to provide solutions for today's needs and tomorrow's growth.

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. Forwardlooking statements are predictive in nature and are frequently identified by the use of terms such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "plan," "estimate," "intend," and similar words indicating possible future expectations, events or actions. Such predictive statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual outcomes and results could differ materially from our current expectations. 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 http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom /ctr?d=10003146&l=9&a=www.sec.gov&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sec.gov.

Symmetry Medical Inc.
Fred L. Hite
Senior Vice President
Chief Financial Officer
(574) 371-2218

Investors / Media:
The Ruth Group
Zack Kubow / Lisa Cook
(646) 536-7020 / 7012