(MONTVALE, NJ) – PENTAX Medical Company, long one of the market leaders in the innovation and manufacture of medical imaging technologies for the GI, ENT and pulmonary medical fields, recently became part of the HOYA Corporation as HOYA and the PENTAX Corporation – the parent company of PENTAX Medical – entered into a long-anticipated merger agreement.

The merger, intent announced in December of 2006, was finally agreed to by both HOYA and PENTAX on October 29, 2007 and will become effective March 31, 2008. The PENTAX Corporation, including the PENTAX Medical division, will become a consolidated subsidiary of HOYA while maintaining the powerful brand of PENTAX (the entirety of the “Public Notice of Execution of Merger Agreement” can be viewed on the PENTAX corporate website at www.pentax.com).

HOYA Corporation has disclosed a full scale quarterly financial update as a year-end financial statement so that investors such as securities analysts can make an appropriate forecasts for the Company. For their references, the Company discloses full year projections at the announcement of the third quarter (from October 1 to December 31) results in the following January. In other words, the projected numbers in the following document are the first forecasts made and disclosed by the Company as to the full year results.

Hoya and Pentax announce that they have entered into a merger agreement effective March 31, 2008. The purpose of the merger is in order for the companies to build a firm business structure by leveraging the managerial resources of the two companies in a mutually complementary manner, and to create synergies and accelerate business growth for the future. The Merger will be effected by PENTAX merging with and into HOYA, with HOYA as the surviving corporation. PENTAX shares will be assigned to the delisting post of the TSE on October 30, 2007, and delisted from the First Section of the TSE on November 30, 2007. PENTAX will be dissolved on March 31, 2008, the effective date of the Merger.

Recently, Japan's preeminent business and financial publication, Nikkei, rated the strength of the top 500 Japanese-based companies based on profitability, financial strength and growth power

NGC presents a two-hour journey through an ordinary, and extraordinary, day in the life of the human machine. With stunning HD footage, radical scientific advances and powerful firsthand accounts, NGC plunges deep into the routine marvels of the human body. And explore striking feats of medical advancement, from glimpses of an open-brain surgery to real-time measurement of rocker Steven Tylers vocal cords.

Re-Airing: Friday, October 26 - 9PM

ASGE launched the ASGE Video Editing Scholarship program for Advanced Fellows at DDW. Twenty-five attended the Advanced Fellows Video Editing course, July 14-15 in Oak Brook, Ill. The program was led by Drs. Peter Kelsey and Brenna Bounds, experienced endoscopists and digital video management experts. This hands-on workshop covered the full spectrum of issues, from room set-up to digital imaging and soundtracks.

Funding and equipment for this program is supported by an educational grant from PENTAX Medical Company.

KayPENTAX will receive a Distinguished Service Award on November 16, 2007, at the annual Honors and Awards ceremony of ASHA's national convention in Boston. This special tribute is granted to an individual non-member or organization that has made "significant contributions to the professions of speech-language pathology and/or audiology." The award recognizes KayPENTAX for five decades of achievements that support speech-language pathologists, scientists, teachers, and students, based on three nomination criteria: consumer advocacy for professionals, innovative research and development in instrumental measures of communication, and service to ASHA.

As a global "conscientious corporate citizen," who respects the concept of coexistence and mutual prosperity with the global environment, the PENTAX Group is determined to contribute to the attainment of a better global environment through the aggressive pursuit of corporate activities that are in harmony with our environment.

The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston is internationally renowned in the fields of Gastroenterology and Endoscopy. Today, UTMB is a teaching hospital as well as a regional referral center whose purpose is to develop innovative solutions to complex clinical problems, and to train gastroenterologists for a career in academics so as to continue to enrich the field and ensure its healthy growth.

For the full story on how PENTAX provides the complete solution to UTMB,