Clinical Research Specialist

Antitrust: KKR agrees to record settlement of HSR non-compliance claims. August 31, 2026 Last year, DealLawyers blogged about the DOJ's decision to file a lawsuit against KKR, in which it alleged that the buyout giant engaged in multiple failures to comply with the HSR Act's pre-merger notification requirements. Last week, the parties filed a proposed settlement of that lawsuit with the SDNY. This excerpt from a White & Case memo summarizes the terms of the settlement: On Wednesday, August 26, 2026, the DOJ filed a proposed settlement requiring KKR & Co. Inc. to pay a civil penalty of $250 million, more than 20 times any prior HSR penalty obtained by the DOJ. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward indicated that this proposed settlement "sends a powerful message" and shows that the DOJ "is committed to vigorous enforcement of the Act." This settlement comes after the DOJ alleged in January 2025 that the private equity sponsor "repeatedly violated the HSR Act" through "systemic" violations. Key allegations in the DOJ's complaint included: - Failure to submit responsive business documents required under Item 4 of the HSR Form - Altering or removing content and pages in final Item 4 documents before submission to the FTC/DOJ as part of required HSR filings - Failure to make HSR filings before consummating reportable transactions The memo quotes a KKR spokesperson as saying that the organization determined that continuing the litigation would be a distraction to the organization & that KKR was pleased to put the litigation behind it. They also noted that their investors wouldn't feel the bite, because KKR "will be fully reimbursed by outside law firms." Yikes!!! The settlement comes on the heels of last month's settlement of the FTC's actions targeting Edwards Lifesciences & Genesis Medtech's for alleged violations of the HSR Act. At the time, the $12 million fine that the companies agreed to pay was the largest ever for failing to make an HSR filing. I guess records were made to be broken. - John Jenkins

Edwards Lifesciences sets up a deal-making succession. Edwards Lifesciences says strategy and corporate development chief Donald E. Bobo Jr. will retire in mid-2027, with a search already running. Why the seat matters for the deal pipeline. Edwards Lifesciences said Corporate Vice President Donald E. Bobo Jr., its longtime strategy and corporate development leader, plans to retire in mid-2027, with a succession process already underway; EW last traded at 90.21, up 0.29% on Aug. 28, 2026. Edwards Lifesciences (EW) has told investors that Corporate Vice President Donald E. Bobo Jr. intends to retire in mid-2027, and that a process to find his successor is already running. Bobo has been the company's longtime leader of strategy and corporate development \u2014 the function that decides which technologies Edwards buys, which it builds, and which it walks away from. The announcement, reported by GuruFocus, is unusual only in its timing. Companies rarely flag a senior departure roughly ten months ahead of the date. Doing so signals two things at once: that the exit is planned rather than abrupt, and that the board wants the market to see continuity in a role where continuity is the point. Why the corporate development seat is not a back-office job. At a medical device company, strategy and corporate development sits at the hinge between the balance sheet and the product pipeline. Structural heart and critical care technologies are developed over long arcs \u2014 clinical trials, regulatory review, physician adoption \u2014 and no single company invents everything it eventually sells. The corporate development function is where decisions get made about buying early-stage technology, taking minority stakes, licensing, and occasionally divesting a business that no longer fits. That makes the person in the chair a quiet determinant of what the company looks like five years out. A device maker's growth profile is partly a function of the deals it did three or four years earlier. Investors who track Edwards for its pipeline rather than its quarter-to-quarter margins have a legitimate interest in who takes over, and in whether the incoming leader inherits the same mandate or a revised one. Edwards has not said, in what has been disclosed, whether the successor will come from inside the company or outside it. Both routes carry a signal. An internal promotion would suggest the current deal philosophy stays intact. An external hire would invite the reading that the board wants a different appetite \u2014 larger transactions, different therapeutic adjacencies, or a faster pace. Where the shares sat as the news landed. The stock gave no dramatic reaction. EW last traded at 90.21, up 0.29% on the day, against a previous close of 89.95, according to market data as of 20:00 GMT on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. The session range was 89.55 to 90.41, so the shares finished in the upper half of the day's band \u2014 a mildly firm close rather than a repricing. That performance came on a soft day for the broad market. The S&P 500 tracker (SPY) closed at $769.35, down 0.23%, and the Nasdaq 100 tracker (QQQ) fell 0.65% to $716.43. The Dow 30 tracker (DIA) was essentially flat at $535.06, off 0.03%. So Edwards ended the session modestly ahead of two of the three headline benchmarks and ahead of the third by a hair \u2014 the kind of relative move that reflects sector rotation and defensive positioning as much as any single announcement. None of that should be read as the market pricing the succession news. Planned executive retirements announced with a long runway rarely move a large-cap device stock, and the size of the move here is well inside normal daily noise. What a long runway buys the board. Announcing a mid-2027 departure now gives Edwards several practical advantages. It allows an internal candidate to be tested on live transactions before taking the title. It lets an external search proceed without the pressure of an empty chair. And it reduces the risk of counterparties freezing mid-negotiation because they are unsure who will own the deal on the buyer's side. There is also a reputational dimension. Abrupt exits from strategy roles invite speculation about disagreement over capital allocation. A pre-announced retirement with a named successor process is the standard corporate answer to that risk. The pattern is familiar across large caps this year: boards disclosing leadership transitions early and framing them as sequencing rather than surprise. What investors should actually watch. Abrupt exits from strategy roles invite speculation about disagreement over capital allocation. The useful questions from here are narrow and answerable over the coming quarters. * Internal or external. The identity and background of the successor is the single clearest signal about whether Edwards intends to change its deal cadence. * Whether the mandate is redrawn. Watch for any restructuring of the role \u2014 splitting strategy from corporate development, or folding it under a different executive \u2014 which would say more than the individual hire. * Deal flow in the interim. Transactions announced between now and mid-2027 will still bear Bobo's fingerprints. A visible slowdown would raise questions; steady activity would suggest the bench is deeper than one person. * Related departures. Corporate development teams are small and personally networked. If other senior deal staff follow, institutional memory leaves with them. The wider pattern in device-sector leadership. Medical technology has been an active consolidator, with large platforms buying growth in structural heart, neuromodulation and diagnostics rather than waiting on internal R&D alone. In that environment, the executive who screens targets and sets price discipline is closer to the center of the strategy than an org chart suggests. Losing a leader with long tenure in that seat is a genuine transition, even when it is orderly and telegraphed a year ahead. For shareholders, the immediate practical takeaway is limited: no change to guidance, no change to the pipeline, no change to the capital structure has been disclosed alongside this. The medium-term takeaway is that Edwards has opened a search for one of the roles that most directly shapes what the company will be selling at the end of the decade. That process, and its outcome, is worth following more closely than the day's quarter-point move in the share price. Key facts. * Executive retiring: Donald E. Bobo Jr., Corporate Vice President, strategy and corporate development * Planned departure: Mid-2027; succession process already underway * EW last price: 90.21, +0.29%, as of 20:00 GMT Aug. 28, 2026 * Benchmark backdrop: SPY $769.35 (-0.23%), QQQ $716.43 (-0.65%), DIA $535.06 (-0.03%) Frequently asked questions. Who is leaving Edwards Lifesciences? Donald E. Bobo Jr., a Corporate Vice President at Edwards Lifesciences and the company's longtime leader of strategy and corporate development, has announced plans to retire. The company said a succession process is already underway to identify who will take over the role, which covers acquisitions, licensing and portfolio strategy. When will the retirement take effect? Bobo's planned departure is set for mid-2027, meaning the company disclosed the transition roughly ten months in advance. That long runway is typical of planned rather than abrupt exits and allows either an internal candidate to be developed or an external search to run without leaving the position vacant. How did Edwards Lifesciences shares react? There was no dramatic move. EW last traded at 90.21, up 0.29% from a previous close of 89.95, with a session range of 89.55 to 90.41, as of 20:00 GMT on Aug. 28, 2026. That is well within normal daily variation for a large-cap stock. Why does a corporate development role matter to investors? Corporate development decides which outside technologies a device maker buys, licenses or passes on, and at what price. Because medical device products take years to develop and win adoption, today's deal decisions shape the revenue mix several years out. The person in that seat therefore influences long-term growth more than an org chart implies. Has Edwards named a successor? Not in what has been disclosed. The company said only that a succession process is underway. Whether the replacement is promoted internally or hired externally is the clearest available signal of whether Edwards intends to keep its current approach to acquisitions and partnerships or shift toward a different pace and scale of deal-making. How did the broad market close that day? It was a mildly negative session. The S&P 500 tracker SPY closed at $769.35, down 0.23%, and the Nasdaq 100 tracker QQQ fell 0.65% to $716.43. The Dow 30 tracker DIA was near flat at $535.06, down 0.03%. Edwards finished modestly higher against that backdrop.

CroíValve announces the appointment of Jaime Wheeler as Chief Executive Officer. * 4 hrs ago CroíValve, a clinical-stage medical device company developing the DUO(TM) transcatheter tricuspid coaptation valve system, today announced the appointment of Jaime Wheeler, MBA, CPhT, as Chief Executive Officer. In conjunction with this, Lucy O'Keeffe will transition into the role of Chief Operating Officer where she will support Jaime in delivering CroíValve's mission of innovating a better way to treat tricuspid regurgitation (TR). Jaime is a transformational healthcare executive with more than 25 years of experience driving innovation at the intersection of clinical excellence and business strategy. Previously, Jaime served as the Senior Vice President of Global Clinical Affairs, Transcatheter Heart Valves at Edwards Lifesciences. There, she was instrumental in bringing multiple breakthrough therapies to market. Daveigh Chase's cause of death has been revealed Jaime Wheeler, Chief Executive Officer, CroíValve CroíValve recently announced the expansion of its TANDEM II study, a US and EU based prospective, multicenter study to evaluate the safety and performance of the DUO(TM) Adapt System in patients with severe or greater symptomatic TR. Bernard Collins, Chairman of CroíValve, commented: "Jaime brings a proven track record in guiding innovative technologies to market, along with leading high-performing teams. Her leadership will be hugely beneficial in guiding the company through its commercialization journey ahead as we expand our US base and global activities. I would like to thank Lucy, on behalf of the board of directors, for her dedication in leading CroíValve successfully through development and initial clinical validation, demonstrating the value proposition of the DUO System." Jaime Wheeler, newly appointed CEO, commented: "What drew me to CroíValve is the caliber of the team and the strength of the science behind the DUO System. I've built my career on bringing challenging, innovative technologies to patients, and I'm looking forward to doing that here, for our investors and, more importantly, for the patients living with tricuspid regurgitation." Lucy O'Keeffe, newly appointed COO, former CEO and Board member, added: "As CroíValve looks towards commercialization, it is the appropriate time to bring in a leader with the right experience for this next phase. Jaime's exceptional track record of successfully bringing novel transcatheter devices to market is a tremendous asset for CroíValve. I am thrilled to collaborate with her as we embark on this exciting next chapter, accelerating our mission to deliver the DUO System to the patients who need it most." About Jaime Jaime brings more than 25 years of medical device and pharmaceutical leadership, deep clinical research expertise across Cardiology and Structural Heart, and a track record of guiding innovative technologies to market. She has managed multiple divisions and regions, including an expatriate assignment in Tokyo, Japan, and served as clinical lead on multiple successful mergers and acquisitions during her career. She joins CroíValve after 12 years at Edwards Lifesciences, most recently as Senior Vice President of Global Clinical Affairs for the Transcatheter Heart Valve business unit, where she played a pivotal role in advancing the clinical evidence that shapes transcatheter structural heart care today - most notably the PARTNER trial series. Beyond her research leadership, she is a strong advocate for patient access, representation, and health equity, and has held active roles in industry and community leadership. Jaime holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Virginia Tech and a Master of Business Administration from Florida Atlantic University. She is a former Virginia State Emergency Medical Technician (EMT-B) and a Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT). She is an active member of AdvaMed, MDEpiNet, MedTech Color, and Girls Inc. of Orange County, among other nonprofit and philanthropic organizations. About CroíValve CroíValve is a clinical stage medical device company focused on the development of a novel transcatheter device for the treatment of tricuspid regurgitation with Research, Development & Operations based in Ireland and Clinical & Regulatory based in the US. Caution: The DUO(TM) System is an investigational device and not for sale in any geography. Media gallery