Growing from Strength

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.

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