Originally Published MX July/August
2002

COVER STORY

Growing from
Strength

Edwards
Lifesciences chairman and CEO, Michael A. Mussallem, on the challenges of independence.

Interview by
Steve Halasey

When it was spun off
from Baxter International in April 2000, Edwards Lifesciences (Irvine, CA) was
already a global leader in products and technologies for the treatment of advanced
cardiovascular disease. But that wasn't enough.

Over the past two-plus
years, executives of the newly independent company have been working to strengthen
the company even further, first by divesting nonstrategic business units, and
then by increasing the company's investments in strategically important R&D.
The goal has been to transform the once-disparate business units into a streamlined
powerhouse of innovation in the company's four main disease areas: heart valve
disease, coronary artery disease, peripheral vascular disease, and congestive
heart failure. Along the way, the company also intends to build its profitability
by achieving its long-term aspiration of double-digit sales growth.

Leading