Abbott (Abbott Park, Illinois) and BG Medicine (Waltham, Massachusetts) have agreed to develop a new heart failure test for galectin-3, a new biomarker that may play a role in detecting the development and progression of heart failure.
"Abbott has a very long history of leadership in cardiac tests and biomarkers so we're always looking for new ways to diagnose and help provide early diagnosis of heart disease," Ann Fahey-Widman, an Abbott spokeswoman, told Medical Device Daily.
Abbott said the assay would be developed for its Architect immunochemistry instrument platform, specifically the company's i1000SR and i2000SR instruments. The agreement grants Abbott a license to BG Medicine's intellectual property related to galectin-3.
Financial terms were not disclosed. Also, Fahey-Widman said Abbott is not disclosing any specifics about the agreement.
The new test will "add to the existing very strong cardiac testing capabilities that we already have," Fahey-Widman said. She noted that heart failure is one of the most costly medical conditions in the world, and that in the U.S. alone, 37% of Medicare dollars are spent on heart conditions every year.
"Novel markers like galectin-3 have the potential to make important contributions to improving patient and economic outcomes as we work to better understand this deadly and costly disease," Michael Warmouth, senior VP of diagnostics products at Abbott, said in a company statement.
According to Abbott and BG, Galectin-3 is a protein that plays an integral role in the biological functions related to the initiation and progression of cardiac fibrosis and scarring, which is a leading cause of heart failure. Several studies have shown that galectin-3 may provide valuable insight about heart failure and its underlying disease processes, the companies said.
"This development and commercialization partnership with Abbott is an exciting opportunity to explore a promising diagnostic test with broad applicability in cardiovascular disease on a leading laboratory platform," said Pieter Muntendam, MD, president/CEO of BG Medicine. He added that BG's "strong life science discovery research program combined with Abbott's scientific and development leadership will enable us to bring important new tests to patients and laboratories."
BG says it expects to launch an optimized assay for galectin-3 measurements in plasma or serum later in 2009 subject to FDA clearance and obtaining the European CE mark.
According to BG, heart failure is one of the few conditions left that is described and managed on the basis of its signs and symptoms and not on the basis of the underlying disease process. Many other conditions that once were like this have advanced to the point that physicians understand the disease process and use disease-modifying therapy as opposed to therapies to manage the signs and symptoms, BG noted. Galectin-3 may help bring heart failure in the era of targeted disease-modifying therapy, the company said.
BG said that the role of galectin-3 in heart failure was a surprise finding. A group of researchers in The Netherlands studied a rat model of heart failure and found that rats with elevated activity of the galectin-3 gene went on to develop heart failure. The researchers performed a series of studies, the company said, including one in which the galectin-3 protein was administered in the space surrounding the heart. This exposure to galectin-3 induced collagen content in the left ventricle of the heart and reduced the heart's ability to pump normally, BG said.
The researchers also took biopsies from patients undergoing surgery and demonstrated elevated galectin-3 in the hearts of patients with heart failure as compared to those without it.
Amanda Pedersen, 229-471-4212;