Edwards Alleges Patent Infringement Over Transcatheter Heart Valve

May 15, 2007 — Edwards Lifesciences Corp. announced last week that its subsidiary, Edwards Lifesciences PVT, Inc., has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against CoreValve Inc., of Irvine, Calif., in the District Court of Dusseldorf, Germany. The suit seeks relief for alleged infringement of a patent for transcatheter heart valve technology.

"We are committed to protecting our valuable intellectual property as well as the interests of our clinician-inventors who partner with us to transform patient care for people with advanced cardiovascular disease," said Michael A. Mussallem, Edwards' chairman and CEO. The company has opened discussions with CoreValve on a possible licensing arrangement.

The patent in question, EP 0 592 410 B1, is co-owned by Dr. Henning Rud Andersen of Aarhus, Denmark, and his colleagues, who licensed it in 1993 to Heartport, Inc., now a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. Edwards has an exclusive sublicense to the Andersen patent for cardiovascular applications. The patent relates to a valve prosthesis for implantation by means of a catheter, and the product named in the suit is the CoreValve ReValving System.

For more information about Edwards visit www.edwards.com.