BG Medicine enters agreement to develop galectin-3 test for Siemens' automated immunoassay platforms

BG Medicine, Inc. announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Inc., a division of Siemens Healthcare, one of the world's largest suppliers of clinical diagnostics to the healthcare industry, for the development and commercialization of a galectin-3 test for Siemens' automated immunoassay platforms for clinical laboratories.

“This partnership with Siemens will allow the many hospitals around the world that rely on Siemens instruments for their laboratory operations to meet the demand for galectin-3 testing using existing systems and workflow.”

The automated Siemens galectin-3 assay will offer laboratories a convenient way to measure galectin-3 in plasma or serum. The BG Medicine manual galectin-3 assay was recently cleared by the FDA as an aid in assessing the prognosis of patients diagnosed with chronic heart failure. Elevated galectin-3 levels are associated with an inherently progressive form of heart failure that is associated with an increased risk of hospitalization or death.

"Galectin-3-mediated cardiac fibrosis is proving to be an important underlying condition in certain patients with chronic heart failure, and studies suggest that at least 30% of patients with chronic heart failure may have this form of the disease," noted Pieter Muntendam, MD, President and CEO of BG Medicine. "This partnership with Siemens will allow the many hospitals around the world that rely on Siemens instruments for their laboratory operations to meet the demand for galectin-3 testing using existing systems and workflow."

"Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics is committed to the development of new and novel markers to aid in the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease. We are very excited to be partnering with BG Medicine to develop the Galectin-3 biomarker for our platforms, which we believe will be important in advancing the tools available to clinicians to diagnose and manage heart failure," said Dave Hickey, CEO, Chemistry/Immunoassay, Automation and Diagnostics IT Business Unit, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics.

Under the agreement, Siemens will be responsible for the development of the test in accordance with certain plans and milestones, and Siemens and BG Medicine will collaborate in support of development of the test and regulatory filings.

This agreement with Siemens follows BG Medicine's execution of similar agreements in 2009 and 2010 for the development and commercialization of automated galectin-3 assays with other diagnostic laboratory instrument manufacturers, including Abbott, Alere (formerly Inverness Medical), and bioMérieux.