MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- RITA Medical Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: RITA) today announced that it held its Annual Meeting of Shareholders on Thursday, June 26, 2003, at Venture Law Group in Menlo Park, CA, as scheduled. A quorum of shareholders was present in person or by proxy. All proposals submitted to the shareholders were approved, including the reelection of three Class III directors to the Board of Directors for three-year terms and the re-appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the Company's independent accountants.

The directors reelected to serve until the Company's 2006 Annual Meeting are Vincent Bucci, President of Health Policy Associates, Inc.; Randy Lindholm, consultant to life sciences companies; and F. Thomas (Jay) Watkins, Managing Director of DeNovo Ventures. The names of the Class I and Class II directors whose terms expire at the Company's 2004 and 2005 Annual Meetings, respectively, are Janet Effland, retired General Partner at Apax Partners, Inc.; Scott Halsted, General Partner and Principal at Morgan Stanley, Dean Witter Venture Partners; and John Gilbert, retired Vice Chairman of Keravision, Inc. and Vice President of Sales at Ethicon, Inc.

About RITA Medical Systems, Inc.

RITA Medical Systems develops, manufactures and markets innovative products for patients with solid cancerous or benign tumors. The proprietary RITA system uses radiofrequency energy to heat tissue to a high enough temperature to ablate it or cause cell death. While the Company's current focus is on liver cancer and metastatic bone cancer, the Company believes that its minimally invasive technology may in the future be applied to other types of tumors, including tumors of the lung, breast, uterus, prostate and kidney. The Company has received regulatory clearance in major markets worldwide, including the United States. In March 2000, RITA became the first radiofrequency ablation company to receive specific FDA clearance for unresectable liver lesions in addition to its previous general FDA clearance for the ablation of soft tissue. In October 2002, RITA again became the first company to receive specific FDA clearance, this time, for the palliation of pain associated with metastatic lesions involving bone. The Company has sold over 45,000 of its disposable devices throughout the world.

For further information please contact: investors, Matt Clawson, matt@allencaron.com, or media, Len Hall, len@allencaron.com, both of Allen & Caron Inc, for RITA Medical Systems, Inc.; or Don Stewart, Chief Financial Officer of RITA Medical Systems, Inc., +1-650-314-3400, dstewart@ritamed.com.

SOURCE RITA Medical Systems, Inc.