IRVINE, Calif., April 4, 2005 - Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE: EW), a world leader in advanced cardiovascular technologies, celebrated its five year anniversary today as a publicly traded company. As part of its celebration, the company announced the creation of the new philanthropic Edwards Lifesciences Fund, and expressed its appreciation to its employees and customers.
Edwards Lifesciences was originally established in the late 1950s as Edwards Laboratories, was acquired and ultimately spun off from Baxter International on April 3, 2000. The company chose the fifth anniversary of its spin to announce the creation of the Edwards Lifesciences Fund, a donor-advised fund intended to provide philanthropic support to cardiovascular-related charitable causes that further advance knowledge in the field and improve the quality of life for patients. The company financed the fund with an initial $5 million contribution, and plans to award its first charitable grants later this year.
“We want to thank our employees and clinician partners for their past four and a half decades of medical technology contributions,” said Michael A. Mussallem, Edwards’ chairman and CEO. “Their hard work and dedication have led to tremendous progress in the fight against cardiovascular disease, enabling us to increase investments and create this philanthropic fund to expand our efforts to strengthen the community fighting cardiovascular disease.”
From Humble Beginnings to Technology Leader
Edwards Laboratories began as a small workshop in the Orange County, Calif. garage of Miles “Lowell” Edwards, a retired electrical engineer who is credited with co-inventing the first commercially available artificial heart valve, among many other medical advances. Over the past 47 years, the company has partnered with leading clinicians around the world to introduce many breakthrough medical technologies, pioneering heart valve replacement and repair therapies, the first hemodynamic monitoring balloon catheter, and the first catheter to remove clots from peripheral blood vessels. The technologies introduced by Edwards have been credited with saving countless lives around the world.
Today, Edwards Lifesciences has grown to more than 5,000 employees worldwide, selling products in more than 100 countries with 2004 sales of $931 million. Eighty percent of the company’s sales come from brands with leading global market positions, including Carpentier-Edwards, Cosgrove-Edwards, Fogarty, PERIMOUNT and Swan-Ganz. Since the company’s spin in April 2000, Edwards Lifesciences:
- Increased its annual research and development investment by more than 50 percent, dedicating more to heart valve therapy than any other company;
- Tripled shareholder value; and
- Began developing new technologies intended to transform heart valve therapies and critical care monitoring.
“Over these past five years, we have accelerated our rate of innovation and launched many new products, enabling us to help more patients than ever before. We’re now pursuing specific unmet patient needs, including novel peripheral stents, minimally invasive cardiac monitoring, and percutaneous heart valve therapies. We’ve been very successful since our spin, and we believe our company’s best days are yet ahead,” Mussallem concluded.
About Edwards Lifesciences
Edwards Lifesciences, a leader in advanced cardiovascular disease treatments, is the number-one heart valve company in the world and the global leader in acute hemodynamic monitoring. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., Edwards focuses on specific cardiovascular opportunities including heart valve disease, peripheral vascular disease and critical care technologies. The company’s global brands, which are sold in approximately 100 countries, include Carpentier-Edwards, Cosgrove-Edwards, Fogarty, LifeStent, PERIMOUNT and Swan-Ganz. Additional company information can be found at http://www.edwards.com/. More information about the Edwards Lifesciences Fund can be found at http://www.edwards.com/edwardsfund.
Edwards Lifesciences and Edwards are trademarks of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation. Carpentier-Edwards, Cosgrove-Edwards, Fogarty, PERIMOUNT, and Swan-Ganz are trademarks of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation and are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. LifeStent is a trademark of Edwards Lifesciences AG and is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Contact Information :
Media, Barry R. Liden, +1-949-250-5070, or Investors, David K. Erickson, +1-949-250-6826, both of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation