BG Medicine, Boston Scientific partner on CRT biomarker

BG Medicine and Boston Scientific are partnering on patient-screening technology for cardiac-resynchronization therapy (CRT). They're looking at whether galectin-3 can help identify patients who would benefit most from CRT. The partnership involves using BG Medicine's biomarker discovery capabilities to identify other biomarkers that correlate to CRT treatment response, according to a release.

The FDA recently approved BG Medicine's galectin-3 assay to help assess patients with chronic heart failure, since elevated levels of the biomarker as associated with a progressive form of heart failure.

"Guidelines for CRT candidate selection are based on measures of current cardiac status, not on the basis of anticipated disease course," BG Medicine President Pieter Muntendam said in a statement. "Elevated galectin-3 is associated with poor outcomes, and this collaboration aims to investigate the role galectin-3 can play in identifying those who stand to gain most by early use of CRTs."

- read the BG Medicine release