Shareholders approve all proposals of the Board at Annual General Meeting

• Dividend set at CHF 3.75
• Dr h.c. Rudolf Maag, Dr Sebastian Burckhardt and Jürg Morant re-elected to the Board
• Amendments to articles of association approved

Basel, 1 April 2008: At their Annual General Meeting on 28 March in Basel, the shareholders of Straumann AG approved all the proposals put forward by the Board of Directors. 661 shareholders attended the meeting. A total of 9 898 394 voting shares were represented, corresponding to 63% of the overall share capital.

The meeting approved the appropriation of the available earnings, which totaled CHF 429.9 million. CHF 58.4 million thereof were allocated to the 2007 dividend, corresponding to a 25% increase from the previous year and a payout ratio of 33% of net profit. The dividend of CHF 3.75 per share will be paid as of 2 April 2008.

Dr h.c. Rudolf Maag, Dr Sebastian Burckhardt and Jürg Morant were all re-elected to the Board of Directors for a further 3 years.

The shareholders also approved the Annual Report and the 2007 Financial Statements, in addition to the discharge of the Board of Directors for their activities in 2007. PricewaterhouseCoopers of Basel was reappointed as Statutory Auditors and Group Auditors for a further term of one year.

The Meeting also approved an amendment to the articles of association and the extension of the transferability of restrictions on the contingent share capital. The respective amendments to article 2.1.2 and the inclusion of article 2.3 will be recorded in the register of commerce.

2007 – A landmark year
Reviewing the past year, Dr Rudolf Maag, Chairman of the Board, observed that 2007 was a landmark year for Straumann. The Group completed a number of important strategic initiatives to extend its market reach and to expand its business portfolio. These included the acquisitions of its Japanese and Korean distributors and of etkon AG, which gives Straumann entry into the highly attractive CAD/CAM crown and bridge market. In addition, the Group launched its new generation bone-level implant, which opens the door to at least 50% of the implant market that Straumann has hitherto been unable to address.

The Chairman also noted that Straumann created 241 new jobs in 2007 with a further 400 planned in 2008 to drive future growth. He reiterated the Group´s optimism with regard to future growth opportunities in the field of implant and restorative dentistry and oral tissue regeneration. Looking ahead, he expressed confidence in the ability of the dental implant market to achieve growth rates of around 15% over the next three years.

2009 AGM
In 2009, the ordinary general meeting of the shareholders will be convened on 20 March at the same location (Basel Trade-Fair Congress Center).

Concerning forward looking statements
This release contains certain “forward-looking statements”, which can be identified by the use of terminology such as "opens the door to", “will”, “further”, “future”, “optimism”, “growth opportunities”, “confident”, “ability to achieve further growth”, “planned” or similar wording. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of management and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Group to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These include risks related to the success of and demand for the Group’s products, the potential for the Group’s products to become obsolete, the Group’s ability to defend its intellectual property, the Group’s ability to develop and commercialize new products in a timely manner, the dynamic and competitive environment in which the Group operates, the regulatory environment, changes in currency exchange rates, the Group’s ability to generate revenues and profitability, and the Group’s ability to realize its expansion projects in a timely manner. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in this report. Straumann is providing the information in this release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in it as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.