Edwards Lifesciences puts heart into innovation

Edwards Lifesciences, which has introduced heart valve and critical care products to China over the past two decades, is confident in maintaining and even surpassing its current growth in the China market over the next few years, said a senior executive of the company.

A global leader in medical technology, the company has achieved, on average, double-digit growth in China, one of its most important strategic markets globally, over the past five years, said George Ye, general manager of Edwards Lifesciences Greater China.

"This was around the same growth pace globally but the China market has shown strong resilience," said Ye during an exclusive interview on Monday.

"We believe more growth opportunities will arise by riding the wave of China's economic development and grabbing the opportunities from a rise in medical needs and the needs of an aging population," he said.

Earlier this year, the company announced China as one of its seven major business regions. In July last year, it established a branch in Hong Kong, showing its confidence in China's economy and market.

"We'll further cooperate with the regional advantages of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and favorable policies to accelerate the introduction of more cutting-edge, high-quality innovative products to the Chinese mainland," Ye said.

In 2020, the company's transcatheter aortic valve system — Sapien 3 — was approved in China as the first such system imported by the country to help patients with aortic stenosis improve their prognosis and quality of life. It marked the landing of the transcatheter heart valve, the company's most important global business area, and business is being deepened continuously in the market.

Transcatheter procedures are minimally invasive surgeries that can be used to replace heart valves.

"Regarding the future of the valve sector, we look forward to introducing more innovative biological valve products, such as the RESILIA series of transcatheter and surgical biological valve products, into China, and laying out the sector of transcatheter therapy for mitral and tricuspid valves," said Ye.

"In the field of critical care, we'll take smart recovery equipment as the future development direction and apply emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and big data, to medical instruments," he said.

According to the Report on Cardiovascular Health and Diseases in China published by Beijing Fuwai Hospital in 2021, about 25 million people suffered from valve diseases. The risk of heart valve diseases increased from age 60 and one in eight individuals over 75 suffered from moderate to severe valve diseases.

However, data from global consultancy Frost & Sullivan showed that the penetration rate of transcatheter aortic valve replacement in China is only 0.3 percent. In comparison, one in five eligible patients in developed countries receives such an operation within the same year.

While having more than 20 innovative products approved in China and having benefited over 1.5 million patients, the company has also facilitated international communication and multidisciplinary interactions in the field, said Ye.

"We've collaborated with more than 10 hospitals, including Beijing Fuwai Hospital and West China Hospital in Chengdu, Sichuan province, to conduct clinical cooperation to further improve the treatment level of cardiovascular diseases in the country," he said.

In response to the Health China 2030 Initiative, the company has collaborated with governments, associations, hospitals and research institutions to push its innovative technologies at the grassroots level.

"For example, we reached a strategic partnership with the Chinese Society of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesiology to improve perioperative hemodynamic monitoring techniques for clinical anesthesiologists, providing professional training for anesthesiologists at the grassroots level," Ye said.