Under the agreement, the three parties will jointly conduct a series of biomarker discovery studies for heart disease and early detection of metabolic syndrome – a combination of certain risk factors, including abdominal obesity, hypertension and insulin resistance – which are believed to increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
BG Medicine said that its highly advanced technology, which can detect and validate subtle biological changes at the molecular level, will analyze biosamples obtained during years of collection by Framingham Heart Study researchers. The Framingham Heart study is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and conducted in collaboration with Boston University’s School of Medicine and School of Public Health. The collaborative research aims to identify those at high risk of heart attack and stroke.
Pieter Muntendam, CEO of BG Medicine, said: “It is an honor and a privilege to be able to participate in this important research using the Framingham biosamples. Use of these advanced research platforms now enable the kind of biomarker research that was impossible just a couple of years ago.”