In Minimally-Invasive Heart Valves, Edwards Cuts a Wide Swath

Heart valves used in surgical procedures constitute more than 40% of the revenues of Edwards Lifesciences Corp. , the world's leading manufacturer of tissue valves. So the company's recent acquisition of endovascular heart valve company Percutaneous Valve Technologies Inc. (PVT) for $125 million in cash plus $30 million in milestone payments, along with its earlier acquisition of a percutaneous heart valve from Jomed NV , could be regarded as part of its plan to launch a pre-emptive strike. [See Deal], [See Deal] Edwards Lifesciences now has the broadest and most advanced portfolio of endovascular heart valve repair products in the industry. It thus hedges itself against the possible future erosion of its surgical valve franchise by the new interventional cardiology-oriented approaches and beats out Medtronic Inc. and Boston Scientific Corp. , each of which previously held 10% stakes in PVT before the acquisition.

Edwards Lifesciences' Stuart Foster, corporate VP, technology and discovery, prefers to describe the company's efforts to develop new percutaneous technologies...