Patent Win Fails to Help Edwards Stock

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Corp., an Irvine maker of cardiovascular disease treatments, hit a 52-week low of $12 a share during trading Wednesday as the stock continued to get pummeled two days after the company lowered its profit estimates for its fiscal fourth quarter.

The stock ended the day at $13 a share, down 44 cents in New York Stock Exchange trading.

Word of a favorable settlement in a patent infringement case apparently didn’t rally investors.

A Colorado company said Wednesday that it has agreed to pay Edwards and its former parent company, Baxter International Inc., cash royalties on certain products to settle the lawsuit.

Spectranetics Corp. in Colorado Springs said in a press release that it signed a license agreement with Baxter, based in Deerfield, Ill., for the use of three patents in the U.S. and abroad until the expiration of the last patent in 2005. The patents involve laser treatments in the cardiovascular system.

Besides future royalties, Spectranetics will pay Baxter about $4 million for past and current-year royalties.

The “lion’s share” of the settlement will go to Edwards, company spokesman Scott Nelson said. However, the amount will be immaterial to the company’s bottom line.