Baxter Spins Off Cardiovascular Group
The new company will be named Edwards Lifesciences Corp. after Miles "Lowell" Edwards, who is credited with co-inventing the first commercially available artificial heart valve, among other medical advancements. In the 1950s, Edwards founded a medical device company that would later become American Edwards Laboratories. That company was acquired by Baxter in 1985.
As an independent, publicly traded company, Edwards Lifesciences will provide products and services used to treat late-stage cardiovascular disease. Through its leading brands including Bentley, Carpentier-Edwards, Cosgrove-Edwards, Fogarty, Research Medical, Starr-Edwards and Swan-Ganz, the business has sales of nearly one billion dollars annually. Edwards Lifesciences' headquarters will be located in Irvine, CA, where the Baxter CardioVascular Group is based currently.
Michael A. Mussallem, Baxter group vice president, will become the new company's CEO and chairman of the board.
Edited by Ursula Jones