Edwards Lifesciences Corporation Sued by Investor

Robbins LLP announce that an investor of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE: EW) has filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The complaint alleges that the company and certain of its officers violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 from April 25, 2012 to April 23, 2013 (the "Class Period"). Edwards Lifesciences is a medical device maker that designs and markets, among other things, artificial heart valves for implantation in patients with advanced cardiovascular disease.

Edwards Lifesciences Accused of Making False and Misleading Statements

According to the complaint, Edwards Lifesciences issued materially false and/or misleading statements and failed to disclose material facts about the prospects, projected sales, and adoption of its Edwards SAPIEN transcatheter aortic heart valve, including the related transfemoral and transapical delivery methods ("SAPIEN"), which may be implanted using a minimally invasive procedure.

Specifically, the Complaint alleges that the defendants knew but concealed from Edwards Lifesciences’ shareholders during the Class Period that: (1) adoption of SAPIEN was weaker than the Company claimed due to concerns among physicians over the risks and complexity of the procedure for implanting the valve; (2) Edwards Lifesciences’ outlook for sales and earnings per share was significantly weaker than the optimistic guidance defendants offered to investors; and (3) as a result, defendants lacked a reasonable basis for the statements made concerning the Company’s operations, forecasts, and outlook. As a result of these misrepresentations, Edwards Lifesciences shares traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Drops on Retraction of Third Quarter Guidance

According to the complaint, on April 23, 2013, Edwards Lifesciences issued a press release and hosted a conference call, lowering the company's 2013 guidance in part because "US … sales are below … expectations." In a conference call held in connection with the earnings release, Chief Executive Officer Michael A. Mussallem acknowledged that approximately twenty candidate hospitals had postponed their SAPIEN training, there was substantially no backlog of patients awaiting SAPIEN implants, and the company's financial results had been and would likely continue to be weaker than estimates. The lawsuit asserts that this adverse information caused the price of Edwards Lifesciences stock to fall $18.21 per share, or 21.99%, to close at $64.60 per share on April 24, 2013, on extremely heavy trading volume.

If you invested in Edwards Lifesciences and would like to discuss your shareholder rights, please contact attorney Darnell R. Donahue at (800) 350-6003, or you can complete the form below and we will contact you directly.