Name: Bernard Zovighian
Previous title: General manager for Edwards Lifesciences' Transcatheter Mitral and Tricuspid Therapies (TMTT) business
New title: CEO of Edwards Lifesciences
Edwards Lifesciences CEO Michael Mussallem plans to retire in May after leading the company for more than 20 years. The company has named the leader of the company’s Transcatheter Mitral and Tricuspid Therapies (TMTT) business, Bernard Zovighian, as his successor.
“It has been a special honor and privilege to lead our team at Edwards Lifesciences for more than 20 years in their immense contributions to helping and advancing care for millions of patients around the world,” Mussallem said in a Thursday news release, adding that he was confident the company would continue its legacy under Zovighian’s leadership.
Zovighian joined Edwards in 2015 as vice president and general manager of Surgical Structural Heart. He became manager of Edwards’ TMTT business in 2018 and built its global infrastructure while leading the segment.
Irvine, California-based Edwards makes structural heart products, including devices for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), a minimally invasive procedure to replace a thickened aortic heart valve, and mitral valve replacement, a surgery to fix leaky or stiff mitral valves.
While TAVR has been Edwards’ biggest business to date, the company has recently focused on TMTT. Between 2020 and 2021, sales of Edwards’ TMTT products more than doubled. Meanwhile, TAVR procedures have slowed, which the company has said is largely due to hospital staffing shortages.
Other members of Edwards’ leadership team will take on new roles as part of the succession plan. Larry Wood, general manager of the company’s TAVR business, will take on an expanded role as president of TAVR and surgical structural heart. Daveen Chopra, who currently leads Edwards’ surgical structural heart business, will lead the TMTT segment starting in January.
