The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.
(Questions from industry analysts are provided in full, but answers are omitted - download the transcript to see the full question-and-answer session)
Question: Matt Taylor - Jefferies - Analyst
: But I guess I always like to start a little high level as we have a mix of folks in the room and some may be uninitiated in terms of
Edwards. So could you talk a little bit about the business, how it's grown and evolved, and maybe especially touching on some of
the portfolio management that's going on with the sale announcement this week of critical care?
Question: Matt Taylor - Jefferies - Analyst
: Great. And maybe to start, talk to the impact of critical care. You were thinking about spinning it. Talk about the outcome of the sale.
And then I guess you're going to receive a decent cash infusion here. Can we expect you to do anything differently with your cash
now that you'll have that?
Question: Matt Taylor - Jefferies - Analyst
: Very good. Maybe you could touch on each of the businesses in turn and talk about some of the trends there. And then I want to
get to the pipeline. So let's start with TAVR. Could you talk a little bit about the TAVR trends in Q1? I guess you grew a little over 6%,
about 7%, and talk about some trialing in Europe and some pricing pressure there. So I guess, could you give us an overview on
what's happening, if there's any update in Q2? And then overall, how do you expect the TAVR market to grow and your growth to
be within that?
Question: Matt Taylor - Jefferies - Analyst
: Maybe I'll ask a follow up on Europe because you are introducing a new product there with the S4 Ultra Resilia. Has that any impact
on the trialing dynamics in Q2? Or have you seen those change at all sequentially?
Question: Matt Taylor - Jefferies - Analyst
: On the topic of asymptomatic in diagnosis, I know you've been making a lot of efforts to increase awareness in using tools and
investments to help increase the diagnosis rate. So maybe you could talk about some of those efforts as we work into the asymptomatic
study, which a lot of investors say, well, how are you going to find these patients, it's going to be harder. So talk about your efforts
to date and how they can be applied potentially to the asymptomatic population when that's approved.
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JUNE 05, 2024 / 2:30PM, EW.N - Edwards Lifesciences Corp at Jefferies Heathcare Conference
Question: Matt Taylor - Jefferies - Analyst
: Great. You referenced this idea that it would be great to see people getting echoes when they're 65 or 70. I guess I'm wondering if
you think it's possible that with the asymptomatic data having another Tier 1 level evidence study, there could be any movement
to change the guidelines as there has been support in the societies for that? Do we see anything on the back of the trial?
Question: Matt Taylor - Jefferies - Analyst
: Last one I want to ask on asymptomatic is just that in the past we've seen other studies, the lower study, helping with moderate and
high-risk growth. Do you think asymptomatic could have kind of a halo effect on traditional TAVR as that data comes out and hopefully
reads out positively?
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affiliated companies.
JUNE 05, 2024 / 2:30PM, EW.N - Edwards Lifesciences Corp at Jefferies Heathcare Conference
Question: Matt Taylor - Jefferies - Analyst
: Very good. We spent a lot of time on TAVR, and I wanted to pivot and talk a little bit about TMTT, which has turned into a really nice
growth driver that we'll have some extra horsepower this year with the new product, the Evoque valve, for tricuspid replacement.
So I guess teeing that up, can you talk about some of the underlying trends there? You've already raised guidance twice in the last
six months or so, or quasi-twice. So could you talk about how the micro business is developing? And then maybe tee up what we
should expect from Evoque.
Question: Matt Taylor - Jefferies - Analyst
: Great. So I guess it sounds like the early demand indicators are really strong there. I guess could you remind us, on the rollout, how
many centers are teed up for the study itself, and then how many you might be able to add through the year?
Question: Matt Taylor - Jefferies - Analyst
: And we know about a lot of the good quality of life benefits for those patients who don't really have other options, but we will see
the one-year data this year as well at TCT. And there's been some speculation about whether we could actually see benefits on harder
endpoints like mortality. So I guess I'm hoping you can comment on the likelihood of seeing that; and, B, how much does that actually
matter in terms of being a catalyst for uptake?
Question: Matt Taylor - Jefferies - Analyst
: If we see a mortality benefit or not, does that change your long-term view on what Evoque sales could be?
Question: Matt Taylor - Jefferies - Analyst
: Great. And maybe we could talk a little bit about what I'll term the portfolio effect of having solutions across the TMTT landscape.
So eventually, you will have approved repair and replacement solutions in the mitral and tricuspid positions, at least. And it seems
like, anecdotally, we've heard that Evoque is maybe helping you with your TAVR business. People are so interested in Evoque that
it may help you get some leverage or induce them to buy mitral or TAVR or other products.
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affiliated companies.
JUNE 05, 2024 / 2:30PM, EW.N - Edwards Lifesciences Corp at Jefferies Heathcare Conference
So can you talk about the portfolio effect in general, whether you're seeing any benefits today, and how that could evolve over the
next year or two as you get more approvals?
Question: Matt Taylor - Jefferies - Analyst
: And maybe I'll pivot and ask you a few margin and financial questions. So related somewhat to this topic is that you've been running
all these studies, trying to get these approvals for a long time. Hopefully we'll have them in a year or two. So can you talk about what
that means for future spending plans and if that will allow you to get some leverage on those investments and actually produce
more operating margin expansion?
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