Edwards Lifesciences

Incorporated in 1999 and headquartered in Irvine, California, Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW) designs, manufactures, and markets a range of medical devices and equipment to treat cardiovascular disease. Edwards Lifesciences is a spinoff from Baxter International. Its products include replacement valves, valve repair equipment, hemodynamic monitoring systems, catheters, surgical clips and inserts, and artificial implantable grafts. Edwards markets through a direct sales force and through distributors, of which Baxter is one, primarily in the United States, Canada, Europe, North America, Latin America, Japan, and Asia. The company is refocusing on its core heart valve business and development of transcatheter aortic valves. The firm derives about 55% of its total sales from outside the United States.

Product Lines

Its heart valve therapy portfolio comprises tissue heart valves and heart valve repair products that are used to replace or repair a patient's diseased or defective heart valve. The company’s critical care products include hemodynamic monitoring systems to measure a patient's heart function, as well as disposable pressure transducers and central venous access products for fluid and drug delivery. Its cardiac surgery systems portfolio comprises cannulae, transmyocardial revascularization technology, oxygenators, blood containers, filters, and other disposable products used during cardiopulmonary bypass procedures. The company’s vascular portfolio includes a line of balloon catheter-based products, surgical clips and inserts, artificial implantable grafts, and stents used in the treatment of peripheral vascular disease. It also offers intra-aortic balloon pumps and other products.

In the news

Jan 11, 2007 - EW hits a new 52-week high of $48.51 on an intraday basis.

Dec 5, 2006 (AP) -- Heart device maker Edwards Lifesciences Corp. said Tuesday it is cutting about 70 jobs and recording a $16 million fourth-quarter charge due to its reorganization efforts and a product discontinuation. The company is discontinuing its Optiwave 980 cardiac laser ablation system in order to focus more on its core heart valve business and transcatheter aortic valve opportunities.

Dec 4, 2006 (AP) -- Edwards Lifesciences said it is selling its angiogenesis program to drug developer Sangamo BioSciences Inc. for about $7.5 million in stock. Edwards started the angiogenesis program in 2000 in collaboration with, and under license from, Sangamo to develop treatments for cardiovascular diseases. In a statement, Edwards Chairman and Chief executive said the deal "resolves the ongoing issue between the two parties regarding the scope of our respective rights."

Nov 8, 2006 (AP) -- Medical device companies are negotiating with the Food and Drug Administration to pay lower fees for product approval. The medical device industry and FDA officials are reviewing the user-fee program in which manufacturers pay the agency when they submit products for approval. "There's a real consensus among industry that we haven't seen the type of performance we expected," says Patricia Garvey, a recently retired vice president with Edwards Lifesciences. Garvey is a key negotiator for AdvaMed, an industry association that represents more than 1,000 companies, including market leaders Medtronic, Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson.

Top Competitors

Boston Scientific – a global producer of cardiovascular therapeutic devices and related products

Medtronic – a leading maker of implantable biomedical devices

St Jude Medical – develops and markets devices to treat cardiovascular disease

Sources: Company website, Morningstar.com, Yahoo! Finance, and Hoovers.com