On the heels of a sweeping victory in the courts over its rival Medtronic, Edwards Lifesciences is poised to dominate the TAVR (transcatheter aortic valve replacement) market– the revolutionary new catheter technology that offers some patients with life-threatening aortic valve disease an alternative to chest-splitting surgery. Although the legal wrangling is not quite over– Medtronic is appealing the decision and has requested that enforcement of the injunction be postponed– it appears likely that Edwards will ultimately achieve a broad legal and business victory.
But Edwards’ unprecedented victory also presents an unprecedented challenge to the company. While the court appears to have given Edwards everything it wished, the ultimate result could produce significant harm to Edwards’ relationship to the interventional cardiologists who are its core customers. More importantly, there is now a distinct possibility that at least for several years many people who could possibly benefit from the Medtronic technology will not be able to get it.
A Decisive Victory
In last week’s ruling a federal judge delivered a broad ruling in favor of Edwards:
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