 Spectrum --
May 2008
 Introduction:
Demographic and cost data provide clear reasons for
pharmaceutical industry investment in CVD biomarkers and diagnostics. CVDs are
highly prevalent and potentially lethal diseases with high treatment costs;
biomarkers offer the potential to decrease these costs by helping physicians to
more efficiently manage CVD patients.
Get the Answers You Need to Shape Your Strategy:
 Debate surrounds the comparative value of new cardiac biomarkers
versus established markers for risk assessment and prognosis. Have clinical
studies supported the value of new cardiac biomarkers? Which new biomarkers
have been shown to add independent capabilities for risk assessment and
prognosis?
The 2007 National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry (NACB)
guidelines provide the most up-to-date thinking in biochemical diagnostic
procedures for CVDs. Do these new guidelines support the use and value of
cardiac biomarkers? Have these new guidelines seen aggressive uptake in the
medical community?
Point-of-care cardiac tests offer their own unique benefits to
CVD care, but many debate their correlation with central laboratory tests. What
are the economic benefits of these POC tests? Are POC tests proving to be
better than central lab tests?
Scope:
Focus on use of biomarkers in three key CVDs: coronary
heart disease (CHD), acute coronary syndrome (ACS), and chronic heart failure
(CHF).
Review of imaging technologies used for CVD: magnetic
resonance imaging, computed tomography, positron emission tomography, single
photon electron computed tomography, and near infrared fluorescence.
Targeting of disease progression and risk stratification: genetic
testing in CHD, biomarkers of plaque instability, serum markers for ACS and
CHF.
POC testing: economic benefits, comparison with central
lab tests, top competitors.
Strategic business models for CVD diagnostics: mergers
and acquisitions, licensing activities.
Investment considerations in CVD diagnostics: clinical
validation and acceptance of new cardiac markers, need to control healthcare
costs, debate over added value of new markers, increased investment in
research, POC opportunities, improved modalities.
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