Edwards and Cook Combine on Possible Living Heart Valve

Medical device companies, led by Edwards Lifesciences Corp. , have made considerable progress in developing tissue-based replacement heart valves that in many cases can be used instead of traditional mechanical valves, eliminating the need for patients to remain on a lifelong anticoagulation drug regimen. (See "Edwards: Will a Biotech Deal Strategy Work for a Device Company?" IN VIVO, September 2002Also see "Edwards: Will a Biotech Deal Strategy Work For a Device Company?" - In Vivo, 1 September, 2002. and "Edwards' Winning Heart Valve Strategy," IN VIVO, April 2002 Also see "Edwards' Winning Heart Valve Strategy" - In Vivo, 1 April, 2002..) The longstanding advantage of mechanical valves is that they typically out-last the patients in which they are implanted because they basically don't wear out. The challenge for product companies has been coming up with tissue valves of sufficient longevity to make them viable options, particularly as patients are living longer and valves are being implanted in younger patients.

"There's a big unmet clinical need, particularly for younger patients, to have heart valves that can last a lifetime and potentially grow with the patient," explains Michael A. Mussallem, Edwards'...