Edwards Lifesciences Corp. in Irvine reported fourth-quarter earnings of $767.7 million, up 14.4% year-over-year. U.S. and international sales were $421.5 million and $346.2 million, respectively.
“The very end of the year finished stronger than we had anticipated,” said Chief Executive Michael Mussallem.
Edwards had said at its annual investor conference last December that it expected sales to be in the range of $750 million to $790 million.
Its growth plan includes expanding core aortic valve therapy to a broader group of patients with severe aortic stenosis —the technology is currently limited to treat patients with severe aortic stenosis who are at intermediate or higher risk of open-heart surgery —as well as growing its transcatheter mitral and tricuspid device pipeline.
Edwards added to its CardiAQ mitral valve replacement technology with the recently acquired mitral and tricuspid valve repair technology from Valtech Cardio Ltd in Israel. The $340 million acquisition, with a possible additional $350 million in milestone payments over the next 10 years, closed last month.
Mussallem said both are new areas for Edwards and that the company estimates 2017 growth of about 15% to 20%.
