WALTHAM, Mass., March 26, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BG Medicine, Inc. (Nasdaq:BGMD) announced today the publication of a landmark study, in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, reporting clinical outcome results of the BioImage Study.[1] The BioImage Study, sponsored by BG Medicine in collaboration with pharmaceutical and healthcare companies Abbott, AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Merck, Philips, and Takeda, is a large, prospective study of cardiovascular disease in asymptomatic men and women in the United States. The BioImage Study recruited 7,687 men and women above the age of 55 and monitored them for approximately 3 years for the occurrence of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, and death due to cardiovascular causes.
The recent publication appeared in the March 24, 2015 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the flagship journal of the American College of Cardiology. The lead authors, from the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, reported the occurrence of 216 first major adverse cardiovascular events in BioImage Study participants during the follow-up period. Of these, the authors found that 184 events, or over 85% of all events, occurred in individuals who were believed at the outset of the study to be at low or intermediate cardiovascular risk, as determined by conventional, office-based Framingham Heart Study risk assessment.
The authors report that a significant proportion of men and women, nearly 60%, showed evidence of accumulated plaque in the major arteries that supply blood to the heart and to the brain, indicating potential undetected vascular disease. Participants in the BioImage Study underwent extensive medical imaging to detect such plaques, including experimental ultrasound measurement of the arteries in the neck, and advanced X-ray-based computed tomography scans of the heart.
"We welcome this landmark publication on the BioImage Study cohort," said Paul R. Sohmer, M.D., President and CEO of BG Medicine, Inc. "We are proud to have served as the sponsor of this major study, and we extend our sincere appreciation to the thousands of men and women across the United States who participated in this important study. Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, and we in the community of clinical science continue to strive to improve the accuracy with which we can identify individuals at truly high risk. We look forward to further exploring the extensive data collected through the BioImage Study to those ends," stated Dr. Sohmer.
About BG Medicine, Inc.
BG Medicine, Inc. (Nasdaq:BGMD), the developer of the BGM Galectin-3® Test, is focused on the development and delivery of diagnostic solutions to aid in the clinical management of heart failure and related disorders. For additional information about BG Medicine, heart failure and galectin-3 testing, please visit www.BG-Medicine.com.
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Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, statements regarding our commitment to improving the detection of individuals at high risk for cardiovascular disease and to further exploring the extensive data collected through the BioImage Study. These forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees of future performance, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" contained in BG Medicine's annual report and quarterly reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and BG Medicine disclaims any obligation to update the information contained in this press release as new information becomes available.
References
[1] Baber U, Mehran R, Sartori S, Schoos MM, Sillesen H, Muntendam P, Garcia MJ, Gregson J, Pocock S, Falk E, Fuster V. Prevalence, Impact, and Predictive Value of Detecting Subclinical Coronary and Carotid Atherosclerosis in Asymptomatic Adults: The BioImage Study. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2015 Mar 24;65(11):1065-74.