Edwards Lifesciences: a Profile of the Heart Tech Specialist

Edwards Lifesciences has agreed to sell its critical care products unit to Becton Dickinson, in a deal valued at $4.2 billion to sharpen focus on its heart devices business.

US-based Edwards Lifesciences is a global leader in medical innovations around structural heart disease, and it is this side of its business that it will now focus on.

Edwards’ Critical Care business develops and sells advanced blood and heart monitoring systems used in surgical and intensive care settings.

Here, we take a closer look at Edwards Lifesciences, its history, products and its influence on heart health.

Edwards Lifesciences: a pioneering force in heart health

Established in 1958 and headquartered in Irvine, California, Edwards Lifesciences is a global leader in the medical technology industry. The company’s focus has traditionally always been on innovative therapies for structural heart disease and critical care monitoring.

As the world's population ages and the prevalence of heart disease continues to rise, the company’s heart health technologies are becoming increasingly crucial. 

It was founded by Miles Edwards, an engineer and inventor who recognised the need for artificial heart valves. His pioneering work laid the foundation for Edwards Lifesciences' expertise in tissue replacement heart valves, which have become a cornerstone of the company's product portfolio.

One of Edwards Lifesciences' most significant contributions to heart health is the development of the first commercially available transcatheter heart valve. 

This groundbreaking technology allows doctors to replace a patient's diseased aortic heart valve without the need for open-heart surgery, providing a less invasive option for those considered too high-risk for traditional surgical procedures. The transcatheter heart valve is inserted through a small incision in the leg and guided into the heart using a catheter.

Edwards Lifesciences also offers a range of surgical heart valve repair therapies, critical care hemodynamic monitoring systems – devices that measure a patient's cardiovascular function, providing valuable data to healthcare professionals.

In 2017, it acquired Valtech Cardio, a company specialising in transcatheter mitral and tricuspid therapies, further strengthening its position in the structural heart disease market.

Today, it has around 20,000 employees worldwide, and it operates across 100 countries.