Plexus and SRI International Form Strategic Alliance to Optimize and Accelerate Medical Product Development for Commercialization

Business Wire, August 23, 2004

NEENAH, Wis. & MENLO PARK, Calif. -- Plexus Corp. (Nasdaq:PLXS) and SRI International, an independent not-for-profit research institute, have announced an alliance to help medical technology companies bring new leading-edge product solutions to the marketplace. The alliance brings together two world-class organizations: Plexus, a leading "product realization" company and SRI, an innovative "technology realization" pioneer. Additionally, the alliance provides a new model for companies seeking contract engineering and manufacturing service providers to help them bring their technology concepts to commercialization.

Available to medical technology companies ranging from emerging start-ups to established Fortune 500 corporations, the alliance provides value to clients by improved efficiencies through established interdisciplinary teams, streamlined project management, "innovation on demand," and ultimately, the ability to bring life-saving products to market more quickly.

Marc Bellotti, vice President of Research and Development at Lipid Sciences, Inc. notes, "By bringing together all of the external resources we needed, the SRI and Plexus team delivered a significant benefit to Lipid Sciences, helping us to energize and accelerate many critical aspects of our novel HDL Therapy product development program."

The seamless integration of services offered by the two companies and structured project management gives the customer a single point of contact for complex projects, and access to a broad set of scientists, engineers, and manufacturing experts. SRI's multidisciplinary capabilities in biology, materials science, engineering, and life sciences are seamlessly combined with the product realization capabilities of Plexus in product design, manufacturing, and supply chain management.

"Companies with creative product ideas often struggle with how to prove their concepts and bring them to successful commercialization," said Michael McGuire, vice president of worldwide sales and marketing at Plexus. "The Plexus and SRI team offers these companies the services they need to bring their ideas to fruition and capture new markets."

"As the pace of innovation accelerates, solutions that enable companies to speed their time to market and to reduce costs are imperative for survival," said John Bashkin, director of business development at SRI International. "The synergy between our organizations gives customers access to everything from basic research to product design and volume manufacturing -- all from one integrated team."

About SRI International

Silicon Valley-based SRI International (www.sri.com) is one of the world's leading independent research and technology development organizations. Founded as Stanford Research Institute in 1946, the nonprofit research institute performs contract research and development for government agencies, commercial businesses and nonprofit foundations. SRI also licenses its technologies, forms strategic partnerships and creates spin-off companies.

About SRI Medical Product Development

SRI has about 1,400 employees performing research and development in fields that include drug discovery and development, health sciences, materials science, engineering, and computer science. Technologies invented or co-invented at SRI include: the computer mouse, the Internet, robotic surgery, and ultrasound imaging. Medical device products developed by SRI include: a dry powder inhaler, a needle-less transdermal drug delivery device, a tonometer-based blood pressure monitor, and a peritoneal dialysis system. SRI is also one of the only full-service contract research organizations (CROs) for the pharmaceutical industry in the western U.S. with complete pre-clinical development capabilities compliant with FDA guidelines.

About Plexus Corp. -- The Product Realization Company

Plexus (www.plexus.com) provides end-to-end product design, test, manufacturing, fulfillment and aftermarket solutions to branded electronics product companies in the medical, networking/data communications, industrial, commercial, defense and computer industries.

The Company's unique materials and manufacturing solutions, strategically enhanced by value-added product design and engineering services, are developed to optimize lowest total cost, scalability and responsiveness for programs requiring flexibility, technology and quality. Plexus provides award-winning customer service to more than 150 branded product companies in North America, Europe and Asia.

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The statements contained in this release which are not historical facts (such as statements in the future tense and statements including "believe," "expect," "intend," "anticipate" and similar terms and concepts) are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to: the economic performance of the electronics and technology industries; the risk of customer delays, changes or cancellations in both on-going and new programs; the Company's ability to integrate acquired operations; the Company's ability to secure new customers and maintain its and acquired operations' current customer base; the results of cost reduction and restructuring efforts and our ability to execute on, and achieve anticipated cost savings from, these efforts; possible delays in anticipated and previously announced measures; material cost fluctuations and the adequate availability of components and related parts for production; the effect of changes in average selling prices; the effect of start-up costs of new programs and facilities; the effect of general economic conditions and world events (such as terrorism); the impact of increased competition; and other risks detailed in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings and previous public announcements.