Theragenics Corporation Establishes New Product Development Team

Yem Chin to Lead New Product Development Team
BUFORD, Ga.--(Business Wire)--
Theragenics Corporation (NYSE: TGX), a medical device company
serving the surgical products and prostate cancer treatment markets,
today announced the hiring of Mr. Yem Chin as its Lead Product
Development Engineer. Mr. Chin and his team will spearhead
Theragenics' new R&D "pipeline project." The R&D team also includes
Mr. Tom Johnson and Mr. Paul Scopton. Mr. Chin and the R&D team are
charged with creating a pipeline of medical devices and sophisticated
development services to support customers of the Company's surgical
products business segment. Mr. Chin has 40 years experience in medical
device product development, including 28 years with Boston Scientific
Corporation. He has been responsible for and supported developing
products in the fields of interventional radiology, urology, gastro
interventional, and cardiology. Mr. Chin holds over 50 patents related
to medical devices.

The new R&D team will be supported by the entire asset base of
Theragenics Corporation. Included in this asset base are the diverse
processes and capabilities of Galt Medical, NeedleTech Products and CP
Medical. These companies, which were acquired by Theragenics beginning
in May 2005, comprise Theragenics' surgical products business segment.
This segment offers vascular access devices, specialty needle devices
and wound closure products with applications in, among other areas,
interventional cardiology, interventional radiology, vascular surgery,
orthopedics, plastic surgery, dental, urology, veterinary, pain
management, endoscopy, and spine. The team began operations October 1,
2008 in space leased near Boston, Massachusetts and is already working
on, and is available to work on, products for all of the Company's
customers.

Ms. M. Christine Jacobs, Chairman and CEO commented, "We are
fortunate to be able to attract product development engineers the
caliber of Mr. Chin and his colleagues. We look forward to providing
the customers of our surgical products business with an increased
level of product development and speed to market."

Tom Johnson has 35 years experience in the medical device
industry. He has recently worked for Creganna Medical and has
expertise in extrusion, mold design, process development and project
management. Mr. Johnson holds over 20 patents to his credit.

Paul Scopton has 28 years experience in the medical device
industry developing disposable interventional devices for use in
interventional radiology, urology, endoscopy, and cardiology. Mr.
Scopton has over 20 product launches and holds 5 patents to his
credit.

Ms. Jacobs continued her comments, "Our recent acquisition of
NeedleTech expanded our product offerings and our customer base of top
tier medical device manufacturers. The addition of NeedleTech further
accentuated an opportunity to more fully address the unmet needs of
our customers. With a combined 103 years of medical device product and
process development, we feel our new group is up to this task."

Ms. Jacobs concluded, "With a focus on vascular access, specialty
needles and wound closure markets, our new team provides significant
development expertise that can offer our customers access to services
they may lack, helping them to expedite line expansion. This R&D group
will support our entire asset base and our dedication to high quality,
U.S-based, medical device manufacturing. It is not our intent to
compete with our customers. Instead, we intend to feed our
manufacturing base with new product opportunities and growth. Mr. Chin
and his colleagues, together with NeedleTech, Galt Medical, and CP
Medical, give us this capability, supporting sustainable long-term
growth in our surgical products segment."

Theragenics Corporation (NYSE: TGX) operates two business
segments: its surgical products business and its brachytherapy seed
business. Its surgical products business (www.cpmedical.com,
www.galtmedical.com, www.needletech.com) manufactures and distributes
wound closure, vascular access, and specialty needle products. Wound
closure products include sutures, needles and other surgical products.
Vascular access includes introducers, guidewires and related products.
Specialty needles include coaxial, biopsy, spinal and disposable
veress needles, access trocars, and other needle based products. The
Company's surgical products segment serves a number of markets and
applications, including, among other areas, interventional cardiology,
interventional radiology, vascular surgery, orthopedics, plastic
surgery, dental, urology, veterinary, pain management, endoscopy, and
spine. The Company's brachytherapy business manufactures and markets
its premier product, the palladium-103 TheraSeed(R) device
(www.theraseed.com) and I-Seed, an iodine-125 based device, which are
used primarily in the minimally invasive treatment of localized
prostate cancer. For additional information, call Theragenics'
Investor Relations Department at (800) 998-8479 or visit
www.theragenics.com.

This press release contains forward looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the
accuracy of which is necessarily subject to risks and uncertainties,
including, without limitation, statements regarding future growth,
opportunities and investments, and anticipated positive results in
general. Actual results may differ materially due to a variety of
factors, including, among other things, uncertainties related to the
integration of acquired companies into the Theragenics organization,
capitalization on opportunities for growth within the Surgical
Products business, ability to recognize value from areas of shared
expertise, risks and uncertainties related to competition within the
medical device industry, development and growth of new applications
within the markets for wound closure, vascular access, specialty
needles and, more broadly, medical devices, competition from other
companies within the wound closure, vascular access, specialty needle
and medical device markets, competition from other methods of
treatment, new product development cycles, effectiveness and execution
of marketing and sales programs, changes in product pricing, changes
in costs of materials used in production processes, continued
acceptance and demand of the Company's products by the markets in
which it operates, introduction and/or availability of competitive
products by others, potential changes in third-party reimbursement,
including Medicare reimbursement as administered by the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), implementation of the new
legislation by CMS, physician training, third-party distribution
agreements, ability to execute on acquisition opportunities on
favorable terms and successfully integrate any acquisitions, and other
factors set forth from time to time in the Company's Securities and
Exchange Commission filings.

All forward looking statements and cautionary statements included
in this document are made as of the date hereof based on information
available to the Company as of the date hereof, and the Company
assumes no obligation to update any forward looking statement or
cautionary statement.

Theragenics Corporation
Frank Tarallo, CFO & Treasurer
or
Lisa Rassel, Manager of Investor Relations
Phone: 800-998-8479 or 770-271-0233
www.theragenics.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008