Sustainability report

Our approach

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (“Edwards” or the “company”) is the global leader in patient-focused medical innovations for structural heart disease and critical care monitoring. Driven by a passion to help patients, we partner with the world’s leading clinicians and researchers to address unmet healthcare needs, working to improve patient outcomes and enhance lives.

When Edwards became an independent company on April 3, 2000, we formed around a Credo and a set of Aspirations to define our culture and guide our actions. True to our Credo, which concludes with, “Helping patients is our life’s work, and life is now,” we have stayed focused on our long-term strategic goals and fostered a patient-focused culture that informs and inspires all we do. Our Aspirations help us drive continual improvement in the products we make, the way we treat our employees and communities, and how we deliver value to our stakeholders.


Our Credo


At Edwards Lifesciences, we are dedicated to providing innovative solutions for people fighting cardiovascular disease.

Achieve ISO 14001:2015 and 45001:2018 certification at all manufacturing plants by 2025

Through our actions, we will become trusted partners with customers, colleagues, and patients — creating a community unified in its mission to improve the quality of life around the world. Our results will benefit customers, patients, employees, and shareholders.

We will celebrate our successes, thrive on discovery, and continually expand our boundaries. We will act boldly, decisively, and with determination on behalf of people fighting cardiovascular disease.

life_is_now

Our Aspirations


our-aspiration-img

  • Transforming patient lives with breakthrough medical technologies: Edwards is driven by a passion to help patients, partnering with clinicians to develop innovative technologies in the areas of structural heart disease and critical care monitoring. We put patients first, working to produce better technologies that enable better outcomes for patients.
  • Excelling as a trusted partner through distinguished quality and integrity: Edwards conducts business ethically and with integrity, providing the highest level of care and respect for our partners. We are committed to the quality and safety of our products, driving innovation and promoting resource efficiency.
  • Fostering an inclusive culture where all employees grow and thrive: Fulfilling our mission to help patients requires a strong, healthy and talented workforce. Edwards recruits top candidates, offers employee wellness and engagement programs and fosters a diverse and inclusive culture to help employees deliver their best.
  • Passionate engagement that strengthens our communities: Edwards is committed to strengthening the health of our global communities. With patients as our top priority, we work to increase access to our innovative therapies, improve efficiency of healthcare processes, improve awareness of and treatment for life-threatening diseases and provide opportunities for our employees to give back.
  • Delivering exceptional shareholder value: By delivering on our focused company strategy and implementing sustainability practices, Edwards positions itself for long-term profitability that will benefit our stakeholders and also our bottom line.

Corporate impact


Guided by its Credo, Edwards has always been committed to serving patients in an ethical manner, in compliance with applicable law, and with respect for its stakeholders. Edwards began formally reporting about our sustainability program in 2014. We support the vision of peace and prosperity for people and the planet as laid out by the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We believe we are best positioned to significantly and meaningfully impact the following specific goals:

  • SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
  • SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth. Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all.
  • SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

sdg-goals

From a corporate impact perspective, we focus on the following environmental, social and governance (ESG) areas:

In progress as of 2022

  • Remove barriers along the patient journey to continuously increase treatment rates for all indicated severe aortic stenosis patients
  • Ensure that our therapies are addressing the needs of patients through an increasingly collaborative patient engagement process
  • Empower and activate patients by meaningfully increasing awareness of structural heart disease globally by 2024
  • Direct continuous improvement efforts to drive no patient safety-related class I product removals
  • No significant disruption of product availability
  • Achieve a 35% reduction in recordable workplace injury rates by 2025
  • Achieve ISO 14001:2015 and 45001:2018 certification at all manufacturing plants by 2025
  • Supplier diversity program development and implementation in 2023
  • Drive Edwards’ aspiration of 100% global employee participation in charitable activity with participation goals of 100% for the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and an increase in global participation as measured by the Employee Engagement survey
  • Our philanthropic initiative, Every Heartbeat Matters (EHM), will improve the lives of 2.5 million more underserved structural heart and critical care patients by the end of 2025
  • By 2025, reduce our environmental footprint according to Edwards’ Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) plan:
    • 20% reduction in waste generation intensity
    • 10% reduction in water withdrawal intensity
  • Reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions 42% from a 2021 base year and achieve carbon neutrality by 2030
  • Reduce scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions 51.6% per USD of value added by 2030

Met in 2022

  • By 2022, all global employees to have completed unconscious bias training, and new hires completed the training within six months of employment
  • Year-over-year positive trending globally of women in leadership positions
  • Year-over-year positive trending in the United States (U.S.) of ethnically diverse talent in leadership positions
  • Annual top talent retention resulting in voluntary turnover less than high performing benchmarks
  • Highly engaged workforce that exceeds industry, region and high performing benchmarks for employee engagement
  • Electronic instructions-for-use roll-out to all applicable business regions by end of 2022
  • Reduce product distribution air miles traveled by an additional 1.5 million by 2023 vs 2018 baseline
  • Include sustainability focus areas in the CEO’s performance goals annually
  • Incorporate sustainability focus areas into the SLT annual performance objectives by 2022

About this report


The Edwards 2022 Sustainability Report covers all global Edwards Lifesciences operations and subsidiaries. Unless otherwise stated, all information covers our 2022 fiscal year from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022. We developed the content of this report with reference to ESG reporting frameworks and guidelines including the 2021 Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Medical Equipment and Supplies, and the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures. Please see our Content Index for more details.

Previously, we published an EHS report as a standalone document. This year, we streamlined and integrated the EHS report content in this report. For more information, please visit the Environmental, Health and Safety section of this report.

Additional information on Edwards’ programs and performance can be found in our annual responses to the CDP Water and Climate questionnaires, through S&P’s Corporate Sustainability Assessment, MSCI’s ESG Ratings, Sustainalytics’ ESG Risk Rating, and other sources. We also publish an annual Philanthropy Report on our corporate giving initiatives, use an interactive Governance Map to outline our accountability structures for material topics, and include sustainability information in our annual report and proxy statement.

Our ESG Metrics includes several years of data for key performance indicators relevant to our most material topics. A third party, Apex Companies LLC, assured our 2022 Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions data. Some reported data may be estimated or rounded, and all financial information is reported in U.S. dollars.

To provide feedback or request additional information, please contact us at sustainability@edwards.com

Important Risk Information

Edwards SAPIEN 3, Edwards SAPIEN 3 Ultra, and Edwards SAPIEN 3 Ultra RESILIA Transcatheter Heart Valve System
Indications:

The Edwards SAPIEN 3, SAPIEN 3 Ultra and SAPIEN 3 Ultra RESILIA Transcatheter Heart Valve system is indicated for relief of aortic stenosis in patients with symptomatic heart disease due to severe native calcific aortic stenosis who are judged by a Heart Team, including a cardiac surgeon, to be appropriate for the transcatheter heart valve replacement therapy.

The Edwards SAPIEN 3, SAPIEN 3 Ultra and SAPIEN 3 Ultra RESILIA Transcatheter Heart Valve system is indicated for patients with symptomatic heart disease due to failing (stenosed, insufficient, or combined) of a surgical or transcatheter bioprosthetic aortic valve, a surgical bioprosthetic mitral valve, or a native mitral valve with an annuloplasty ring who are judged by a Heart Team, including a cardiac surgeon, to be at high or greater risk for open surgical therapy (i.e., predicted risk of surgical mortality ≥ 8% at 30 days, based on the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) risk score and other clinical co-morbidities unmeasured by the STS risk calculator).

Contraindications (Who should not use):

The Edwards SAPIEN 3, Edwards SAPIEN 3 Ultra and SAPIEN 3 Ultra RESILIA Transcatheter Heart Valve System should not be used in patients who:

Warnings: Precautions:

The long-term durability of the Edwards SAPIEN 3 Ultra, SAPIEN 3 Ultra RESILIA and SAPIEN 3 transcatheter heart valves are not known at this time. Regular medical follow-up is recommended to evaluate how well a patient’s heart valve is performing. Limited clinical data are available for transcatheter aortic valve replacement in patients who are born with an aortic heart valve that has only two leaflets and who are determined to be at low risk for open heart surgery. A patient’s anatomical characteristics should be considered by their physicians when using the valve in this patient population. In addition, patient age should be considered as long-term durability of the valve has not been established. Patients who need a dental procedure should talk to their doctor about risk of infection and needing antibiotics. Patients should be treated post-procedure for heart infection as a precaution.

The safety and effectiveness of the transcatheter heart valves are also not known for patients who have:

Potential risks associated with the procedure include: Additional potential risks specifically associated with the use of the heart valves include:
CAUTION: Federal (United States) law restricts these devices to sale by or on the order of a physician.

Important Risk Information

The Edwards SAPIEN 3 Transcatheter Heart Valve System With The Edwards Commander Delivery System - Important Risk Information for Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Therapy
Indications:

The Edwards SAPIEN 3 transcatheter heart valve (THV) system with Edwards Commander delivery system is indicated for use in the management of pediatric and adult patients who have a clinical indication for intervention on a dysfunctional right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) conduit or surgical bioprosthetic valve in the pulmonic position with ≥ moderate regurgitation and/or a mean RVOT gradient of ≥ 35 mmHg.

Contraindications (Who should not use):

The Edwards SAPIEN 3 transcatheter heart valve and delivery system cannot be used in patients who:

Warnings: Precautions:

How long the Edwards SAPIEN 3 tissue valve will last depends on many patient factors and medical conditions. Follow all care instructions to ensure the best possible results. The Edwards SAPIEN 3 pulmonic valve has been tested in a laboratory to mimic 5 years of use without failure. Regular follow-ups will help your doctor know how your valve is working.

Potential risks associated with the procedure include:

Death; stroke; risks to the lungs including: difficulty breathing, buildup of fluid in or around the lungs, collapsed lung, loss of lung volume; risks to the heart including: injury to the heart, arteries, heart muscle or valves including the pulmonary RVOT that may require intervention, heart attack, heart failure or heart does not pump properly, irregular heartbeat that may result in a need for a permanent pacemaker, too much fluid around the heart, sudden loss of heart function, disruption or blockage of blood flow through the heart, infection of the heart, injury to your tricuspid valve, additional heart surgery; dislodgement of calcified material, air embolism (air bubbles in the blood vessels), blood clots, or pieces of the device; injury to blood vessels; valve movement after deployment requiring reintervention; transcatheter valve not working properly; life-threatening infection; poor kidney function or failure; abnormal connection between an artery and vein; nerve injury; limited blood supply; severe bleeding requiring transfusion; decrease in red blood cells including at a fast rate; formation of a blood clot; abnormal lab values; high or low blood pressure; allergic reaction to anesthesia or dye; fainting; pain; weakness or inability to exercise; swelling; chest pain; fever

CAUTION: Federal law (USA) restricts this device to sale by or on the order of a physician

Important Risk Information

MITRIS RESILIA Mitral Valve
Indications:

For use in replacement of native or prosthetic mitral heart valves.

Contraindications:

There are no known contraindications with the use of the MITRIS RESILIA mitral valve.

Complications and Side Effects:

Thromboembolism, valve thrombosis, hemorrhage, hemolysis, regurgitation, endocarditis, structural valve deterioration, nonstructural dysfunction, stenosis, arrhythmia, transient ischemic attack/stroke, congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction, ventricular perforation by stent posts, any of which could lead to reoperation, explantation, permanent disability, and death.

CAUTION: Federal (USA) law restricts this device to sale by or on the order of a physician. See Instructions for Use for full prescribing information.

Important Risk Information

Edwards PASCAL Precision Transcatheter Valve Repair System
Who can be treated:

The PASCAL Precision transcatheter valve repair system (the PASCAL Precision system) is approved for treating patients with abnormality of the mitral valve leaflets and/or its structure, which may be referred to as Degenerative Mitral Regurgitation or Primary Mitral Regurgitation. Patients should work with their doctor and a specialized Heart Team, which should include a cardiac surgeon experienced in mitral valve surgery and a cardiologist experienced in mitral valve disease, to confirm their surgical risk. The specialized Heart Team will determine if the patient is a suitable candidate for the PASCAL procedure.

Who should not use:

The PASCAL Precision system should not be used in patients who:

Warnings: Precautions:
Precautions Prior to Use Precautions After Use Potential Risks
The most serious risks associated with the procedure are: Additional potential risks include:
CAUTION: Federal (United States) law restricts this device to sale by or on the order of a physician.

Important Risk Information

HemoSphere Monitor
CAUTION: Federal (USA) law restricts this device to sale by or on the order of a physician. See instructions for use for full prescribing information.

Edwards, Edwards Lifesciences, the stylized E logo, Carpentier-Edwards, Carpentier-Edwards PERIMOUNT, Commander, Edwards Commander, Edwards SAPIEN, Edwards SAPIEN 3, Edwards SAPIEN 3 Ultra, HemoSphere, Life is Now, MITRIS, MITRIS RESILIA, NewHeartValve.com, PASCAL, PASCAL Precision, PERI, PERIMOUNT, Reach for the Heart, RESILIA, SAPIEN, SAPIEN 3, SAPIEN 3 Ultra, and SAPIEN 3 Ultra RESILIA are trademarks or service marks of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation or its affiliates. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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