Irvine-based heart valve maker Edwards Lifesciences Corp. received kudos on Wall Street as it continues its yearlong market surge.
Shares of Edwards are up 50% since the start of the year, with a recent market value of about $10.5 billion.
JMP Securities analyst J.T. Haresco said in a report raising the device maker’s price target that Edwards’ recent financial results suggest global market growth of transcatheter aortic heart valves may accelerate. Edwards operates in that market through the Sapien family of valves.
“Our own channel checks in Europe suggest that the large number of four- and five-year follow-up visits in the last six months may have had a positive impact on physician adoption by increasing their level of confidence in the technology,” Haresco wrote. “In addition, we believe that longer-term data being presented at the upcoming TCT conference may serve as a near-term driver on the stock.”
JMP was not the only analyst that weighed in on Edwards.
Chicago-based Zacks Investment Service upgraded the heart valve maker in early August.
“Throughout the second quarter, the company remained in the headlines owing to positive results for the Sapien 3 transcatheter valve; the launch of Sapien XT in the U.S. and more recently, for receiving [Food and Drug Administration] approval for its ClearSight noninvasive monitoring system,” Zacks said in a report.
Edwards’ management “expects to gain substantially in its critical care product line,” Zacks added.
The analyst later mentioned Edwards’ May patent lawsuit settlement.
Direct Flow Valve
Direct Flow Medical Inc., a Santa Rosa-based device maker with manufacturing in Lake Forest, said last month that it received a CE mark for a 23-millimeter transcatheter aortic replacement heart valve.
Direct Flow said in a news release that its valves, which range in size from 23 to 29 millimeters, can treat patients with annuluses, or rings of connective tissue where heart valves are anchored, measuring 19 to 28 millimeters.
“Physicians will not only be able to treat a broader patient population, but will also be able to implant this technology with no contrast and no compromises,” Bernard Lyons, Direct Flow’s chief executive, said in the release.
Lyons’ reference to “contrast” refers to fluids that are inserted in patients in order to see their internal structures. Use of contrast media is risky—it causes acute kidney injury in about 22% of patients who undergo transcatheter aortic heart valve replacement procedures, according to Direct Flow.
Acute kidney injury increases patients’ risk of periprocedural complications, prolonged hospitalization, and death.
Prof. Partners in Company
Larry Overman, a chemistry professor at the University of California-Irvine, has established Los Angeles-based Novonco Therapeutics Inc. in partnership with the founder of Seattle-based Juno Therapeutics, the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Dr. David Horne, City of Hope’s deputy director of research.
Novonco is centered on developing T-cells in order to destroy potentially cancerous cells. The company said in a news release that it will target acute myelogenous leukemia, ovarian cancer, and pancreatic cancer.
“The small-molecule drugs being developed are the result of extensive basic research to improve the selectivity and safety of the original product lead molecules,” Overman said in a news release.
He added that the collaboration between himself, Horne, the City of Hope and Novonco “holds exciting promise for bringing a new generation of specifically targeted cancer therapeutics to patients.”
Adagio Gets Investment
Laguna-based Adagio Health Inc. raised $4.1 million in venture funding last month, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Adagio researches and develops treatments for cardiovascular diseases.
The company, which was founded in 2011, didn’t disclose the investor or what it plans to use the funding for.
Adagio received a $2.5 million round of seed funding in March 2013.
Bits & Pieces
Sabra Health Care REIT Inc., an Irvine-based owner of healthcare real estate, participated in a nondeal roadshow hosted last month in Chicago and Minneapolis by RBC Capital Markets. … Irvine-based Alignment Healthcare said it would work with Chapel Hill, N.C.-based UNC Health Care on a program to serve Medicare beneficiaries in Wake County, N.C. The partnership is starting with a new Medicare Advantage health maintenance organization plan.
