Life sciences firm BG Medicine of Waltham, MA, has launched a new clinical study with a group of corporate partners intended to catch coronary artery disease before it attacks, the company said.
Part of the High-Risk Plaque (HRP) Initiative, the study is designed to discover new blood tests and optimize noninvasive imaging of atherosclerosis in order to identify people at high risk for coronary artery disease months or years before heart attacks or strokes occur.
BG Medicine has partnered with Merck, AstraZeneca, Philips Medical Systems, and academic institutions in the initiative. Medical insurance firm Humana will select a cohort of its members in Illinois, Kentucky, and southern Florida to participate in the study, which will use mobile diagnostic imaging units equipped with Philips MR and CT systems. The study will enroll a total of 7,300 volunteers, according to BG Medicine.
Participants in the study will have physical measurements taken and blood samples drawn for molecular analyses. Many will also undergo procedures to capture images of their hearts and cardiovascular systems. Based on this information, the HRP Initiative will work to discover and validate blood biomarkers that correlate with imaging data, and that are predictive of future heart attack and stroke associated with HRP.
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Philips, BG Medicine align on molecular medicine R&D, August 11, 2006
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