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Edwards' Winning Heart Valve Strategy

Edwards Lifesciences' strategy of divesting slow-growing businesses and focusing on the relatively underserved niche of late-stage (or what the company now calls advancing stage) cardiovascular disease appears to be paying off. Now the leader in the heart valve market, the company believes that the pressures cardiac surgeons are feeling, coupled with the introduction of devices like drug-eluting stents, might open up new opportunities as surgeons turn to other ways to add value to the treatment of patients with cardiovascular disease.

When Baxter International Inc. announced in July 1999 its plan to follow the spin-off of its hospital supply division, Allegiance Corp. , three years earlier with the spin-off of its cardiovascular group, which became Edwards Lifesciences Corp. [See Deal], company officials hoped the move would produce results similar to the success Guidant Corp. achieved following its split from Eli Lilly & Co. But where Guidant focused on more well-established market segments such as interventional cardiology and cardiac rhythm management (CRM), Edwards concentrated on the relatively under-served niche of late-stage, or what the company now calls advancing stage, cardiovascular disease.

The strategy appears to be paying off, as Edwards' officials report the company has become the leader in the heart...

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