Edwards Lifesciences Sets New High After Upgrade

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of heart device maker Edwards Lifesciences Corp., which have traded at all-time highs in recent months, climbed further on Friday after a UBS analyst upgraded the stock.

Edwards has improved the odds its Sapien heart valve will succeed by adding a new goal to a clinical trial, said analyst Bruce Nudell. He upgraded the shares to "Buy" from "Neutral," and raised his target price to $77 per share from $72.

In afternoon trading, Edwards shares picked up $1.61, or 2.4 percent, to $69.35. Earlier they rose to a high of $70.44.

Nudell said the Sapien XT valve has an advantage of Medtronic Inc.'s CoreValve: patients who are implanted with a Sapien valve are less likely to need a new pacemaker. Both are associated with greater need for pacemaker replacement, he said, but that happens at a "notably lower" rate for Sapien, he wrote.

"Growing awareness of this issue should facilitate uptake of the competitively sized Sapien XT at its early 2010 ex-U.S. introduction," Nudell said.