Dive Brief:
- Edwards Lifesciences will lay off 3% of its global workforce, equaling about 540 employees, in a realignment of resources and capabilities, the company said Wednesday in an emailed statement to MedTech Dive.
- The restructuring comes in the same week Edwards completed the $4.2 billion sale of its critical care business to BD. About 4,500 employees, representing 20% of the company, are transitioning to BD, Edwards said.
- “For that reason, we carefully assessed our global resources, and determined that it was necessary to do a one-time right-sizing of the organization,” an Edwards spokesperson said. The company did not specify where the reductions would take place but said those affected have been notified. The layoffs were first reported by MassDevice.
Dive Insight:
Edwards is cutting jobs after contending with sluggish growth in its transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) business, its largest product group, in the first half of the year. The company is also working to reshape its portfolio through M&A.
Weaker-than-expected TAVR sales in the second quarter surprised investors and triggered a selloff in the company’s shares. Edwards executives attributed the TAVR slowdown to cardiologists’ prioritizing transcatheter mitral and tricuspid valve procedures.
The sale of the critical care group and its patient monitoring technologies is intended to sharpen Edwards’ focus on the structural heart business, which includes TAVR, the newer transcatheter mitral and tricuspid therapies, and surgical valves.
“We have strong confidence in our long-term strategy and ability to deliver sustainable growth, and we have the vision and capabilities to achieve our goal of helping many more structural heart patients in need,” the Edwards spokesperson said.
That strategy has included a series of recent investments in new technologies in structural heart and heart failure, funded by proceeds from the critical care deal. Edwards is paying a combined $1.2 billion to buy Jenavalve Technology, maker of a valve to treat aortic regurgitation, and Endotronix, which makes an implantable pulmonary artery pressure sensor for heart failure.
The company exercised an option to buy early-stage transcatheter mitral valve replacement company Innovalve Bio Medical for about $300 million, and agreed to pay 15 million euros for a stake in Affluent Medical and access to some of its mitral technologies in July.
Edwards also bought a TAVR system designed to treat aortic regurgitation from Genesis Medtech in August.
In the critical care transaction, Katie Szyman, who led the group at Edwards, was named worldwide president of BD Advanced Patient Monitoring.