Exhibit 99.1

                 DIOMED ANNOUNCES ACCELERATION OF OPTION VESTING


ANDOVER, MA, December 16, 2005, --- Diomed Holdings, Inc. (AMEX: DIO - News), a
leading developer and marketer of minimally invasive medical technologies,
including its patented EndoVenous Laser Treatment (EVLT(R)) for varicose veins,
today announced it has accelerated the vesting of certain unvested stock options
previously awarded to employees and directors under the Company's Equity
Incentive Plans. Options to purchase approximately 574,000 shares of common
stock with an exercise price of greater than $4.00 became exercisable
immediately as a result of the action. Of these options, approximately 389,000
were scheduled to vest during the fiscal year ending December 31, 2006. Diomed
Holdings common stock closed at $1.90 on December 16, 2005.

"We believe the accelerated vesting of these options will result in the
Company's not being required to recognize approximately $1,143,000 and $514,000
in compensation expense related to the options for the fiscal years ending
December 31, 2006 and 2007, respectively," stated David B. Swank, Diomed
Holdings' Chief Financial Officer. "We believe this is the appropriate decision
and is in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders."

Under the Financial Accounting Standard Board's Statement No. 123R, the Company
expects to recognize approximately $95,000, $84,000 and $16,000 in compensation
expense in 2006, 2007 and 2008, respectively, for the remaining previously
awarded unvested options, for which vesting was not accelerated.


About Diomed

Diomed develops and commercializes minimally invasive medical procedures that
use its proprietary laser technologies and disposable products. Diomed focuses
on EndoVenous Laser Treatment (EVLT(R)) for use in varicose vein treatments,
photodynamic therapy (PDT) for use in cancer treatments, and dental and general
surgical applications. The EVLT(R) procedure and the Company's related products
were cleared by the United States FDA in January of 2002. Along with lasers and
single-use procedure kits for EVLT(R), the Company provides its customers with
state of the art physician training and practice development support. Additional
information is available on the Company's website, www.evlt.com. EVLT(R) is a
registered trademark of Diomed, Inc., Andover, MA.

Safe Harbor statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995: Statements in this news release looking forward in time involve risks and
uncertainties, including the risks associated with trends in the products
markets, reliance on third party distributors in various countries outside the
United States, reoccurring orders under OEM contracts, market acceptance risks,
technical development risks and other risk factors. These statements relate to
our future plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. These statements may
be identified by the use of words such as "may," "will," "should," "potential,"
"expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes" and similar
expressions. These statements are based on our current beliefs, expectations and
assumptions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Our actual
results could differ materially from those discussed in these statements. Our
Annual Report on Form SEC 10-KSB (the "Annual Report") contains a discussion of
certain of the risks and uncertainties that affect our business. We refer you to
the "Risk Factors" on pages 22 through 37 of the Annual Report for a discussion
of certain risks, including those relating to our business as a medical device
company without a significant operating record and with operating losses, our
risks relating to our commercialization of our current and future products and
applications and risks relating to our common stock and its market value. Diomed
disclaims any obligation or duty to update or correct any of its forward-looking
statements.




For more information contact:

Diomed Holdings, Inc.
Christopher J. Geberth
Vice President Finance
877-434-6633 or 978-824-1816