Shares of Irvine-based heart valve maker Edwards Lifesciences Corp. rose Friday after an analyst upgraded the stock.
Edwards shares were up about 3% in late afternoon New York trading with a market value of $3.9 billion on a down day for Wall Street.
Analyst Bruce Nudell of UBS upgraded Edwards to “buy” from “neutral” in a research note.
Nudell said Edwards improved the odds that its less-invasive Sapien heart valve will succeed by adding a new goal to its clinical trial.
Edwards’ Sapien XT model has an advantage over rival Medtronic Inc.’s CoreValve, which is produced in Irvine, according to Nudell, in that patients who get a Sapien valve are less likely to need a new pacemaker.
Nudell said that both replacement valves were associated with a greater need for pacemaker replacement, but that happens at a lower rate for Sapien, and that growing awareness of the issue should facilitate more use of Sapien XT when it’s introduced in Europe early next year.
Edwards is conducting a major clinical trial for Sapien, which is inserted with a catheter, with an eye toward Food and Drug Administration approval in late 2011.
