Dear Shareholders,
Leading Edwards Lifesciences has been the greatest privilege of my life. As I look back on the past two decades, I reflect on many of Edwards’ extraordinary accomplishments – the development of our life-saving innovations, the strong patient-focused culture we live every day, and most importantly, the impact we have had on so many patients around the world. I am proud of our talented and dedicated leadership team and our employees who have made all this possible.
The day Edwards became an independent company on April 3, 2000, was exciting, but our future was still uncharted. We were in the very early stages of creating our company and the technologies that would go on to change the lives of so many. Now, 23 years later, I am confident as ever that our future is extremely bright.
While the company and our world have grown and changed since that first day at Edwards, we have never lost sight of why we are here. True to our Credo, which concludes with, “Helping patients is our life’s work, and life is now,” we have stayed focused on our long-term, strategic goals and fostered a patient-focused culture that drives all we do. Impressively, our most recent internal survey found that 93% of our employees consider what is important to patients when making decisions.
Culture and Strategy Led
The strong culture and patient-focused strategy we have at Edwards requires establishing critical partnerships based on mutual trust. It requires an emphasis on quality, integrity and transparency. It requires talented employees who are committed to patients, who think creatively and who are dedicated to lifelong learning. This in turn requires a workplace where our employees feel they belong, where they enjoy and value their work, and where they can be their best.
Innovation Prioritized
Our leading therapies continue to transform patient care around the world. To help more patients and further strengthen our long-term leadership position, we continue to invest in research and development at a significant rate of 17-18% of sales.
While many companies in our industry try to grow through diversification and acquisitions, we have stayed committed to organic growth through innovation in structural heart and critical care.
We have considerable research underway to demonstrate the value of our innovative technologies and hopefully expand the number and type of patients who benefit from those technologies. As an example, our pivotal trial, EARLY TAVR, is studying the treatment of severe aortic stenosis (AS) patients before debilitating symptoms appear and may help us to determine if there are dangers associated with waiting to treat these patients. In addition, enrollment is continuing in PROGRESS, a pivotal trial studying the treatment of patients with moderate AS.
The global TAVR market will continue to be driven by greater awareness and advances in new technologies, as well as indication expansions and increased global adoption. We expect to help twice as many TAVR patients by 2028.
We have continued to partner with clinicians, regulators, hospitals and health systems to bring lifesaving therapies to patients around the world. For example, we have been involved in more than 800,000 transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedures since we pioneered the technology more than a decade ago. We have stayed true to our innovation strategy, even during the pandemic, and have strategically invested in research and development. Our global supply chain has proven resilient, enabling us to meet physician and patient needs. We have also continued to grow our talented and dedicated employees – now stronger than 17,000 worldwide, including more than 2,000 engineers.
It is gratifying to reflect on all we have achieved together, but I also know Edwards is just getting started. We have a leadership team with unmatched experience who shares my commitment to patients. We have worked cohesively for many years, collaborating on Edwards’ strategy, and I am certain the company will continue to build on our legacy of patient impact, innovation and growth.
It is this confidence that underpins my decision to retire in May of this year and step into a different role at Edwards. I feel proud of the planful transition that the Board and I have mapped out. I know that my successor, Bernard Zovighian, is as right for this new role as he was to lead our successful Transcatheter Mitral and Tricuspid Therapies (TMTT) business and, before that, Surgical Structural Heart (where it all began for Edwards). He cares deeply about patients, our employees and our company. He brings to the job a strong strategic mindset, deep experience in innovation and passion for establishing trusted partnerships.
Looking to the Future
I feel strongly that Edwards’ best days are ahead, and the company will thrive and grow with Bernard as CEO. Aside from his already impressive skills and decades of medtech experience, including eight years here at Edwards, he will be supported by our expert, highly engaged board of directors, as well as our stellar executive team. At the annual meeting in May, I will stand for election as non-executive chairman of Edwards’ Board, and I look forward to my continued engagement in this role.
To our employees, I want to thank you, again, for everything that you do for our company and for patients around the world. It has truly been my greatest honor to be Edwards’ CEO and I look forward to supporting Edwards for years to come.
Sincerely,
Michael A. Mussallem
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Read the original letter here.
