Edwards Lifesciences Corp at Jefferies Heathcare Conference Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

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? without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. 'Thomson Reuters' and the Thomson Reuters logo are registered trademarks of Thomson Reuters and its affiliated companies. JUNE 05, 2024 / 2:30PM, EW.N - Edwards Lifesciences Corp at Jefferies Heathcare Conference

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.

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?

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. 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?