William J. Link, Ph.D., Elected to Edwards Lifesciences’ Board of Directors

IRVINE, CA--(Marketwire - May 07, 2009) -

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Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE: EW), the global leader in the science of heart valves and hemodynamic monitoring, announced today that William J. Link, Ph.D., has been elected to its board of directors. Dr. Link, age 62, is managing director and a co-founder of Versant Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on building early-stage health care companies. Prior to co-founding Versant in 1999, he was general partner at Brentwood Venture Capital.

Before his venture capital experiences, Dr. Link founded and served as chairman and CEO of Chiron Vision, an ophthalmic surgical products company, which was sold to Bausch & Lomb, Inc. in 1997. Dr. Link also founded and served as president of American Medical Optics, Inc. and later served as a director of the successor company, Advanced Medical Optics, Inc., which provides cataract, refractive and eye care technologies and was recently acquired by Abbott Laboratories.

"We are proud to add someone with Dr. Link's financial, management and industry experience to our already strong board of directors and believe his background complements the group well," said Michael A. Mussallem, Edwards' chairman and CEO. "We look forward to his contributions as we continue to execute on our mission of developing innovative solutions for patients suffering from cardiovascular disease."

Earlier in his career, Dr. Link was an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, Indiana. Dr. Link earned his bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees in mechanical engineering from Purdue University.

About Edwards Lifesciences

Edwards Lifesciences is the global leader in the science of heart valves and hemodynamic monitoring, with more than five decades of experience in partnering with clinicians to develop life-saving innovations. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., Edwards treats advanced cardiovascular disease with its market-leading heart valve therapies, and critical care and vascular technologies, which are sold in approximately 100 countries. The company's global brands include Carpentier-Edwards, Cosgrove-Edwards, Edwards SAPIEN, FloTrac, Fogarty, PERIMOUNT Magna and Swan-Ganz. Additional company information can be found at http://www.edwards.com.

Edwards is a trademark of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation. Edwards Lifesciences, the stylized E logo, Carpentier-Edwards, Cosgrove-Edwards, Edwards SAPIEN, FloTrac, Fogarty, PERIMOUNT Magna and Swan-Ganz are trademarks of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation and are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office.