WALTHAM, Mass., Nov. 9, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BG Medicine, Inc. (BGMD), a company focused on the development and commercialization of novel cardiovascular diagnostics, today announced that results of retrospective analyses of the BioImage Study cohort were presented this week at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2012 in Los Angeles. These presentations resulted from research sponsored by the company and included data on the CardioSCORE(TM) test, a proprietary blood test currently being developed by the company.

In four scientific presentations, investigators from the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and the Baptist Hospital of Miami jointly presented the following findings:

"BioImage Study: Value of Novel Biomarker Panel (CardioSCORE) in Predicting Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events among those with Absence of Coronary Calcification" assessed the value of the CardioSCORE test for predicting near-term cardiovascular risk among the 1,832 study participants who were found to be free of coronary arterial calcification as determined by computed tomography. For this group, otherwise assessed to be at low risk for cardiovascular events, investigators reported that elevated CardioSCORE test results were associated with a significantly increased risk of major cardiovascular events, including heart attack and ischemic stroke, in the near-term follow-up period of 2.5 years.

"BioImage Study: Reclassification and Discrimination by Novel Biomarker Panel (CardioSCORE), Coronary Calcium Score, Carotid Intima-Media Thickness & Plaque Burden in Asymptomatic Individuals" compared the predictive power of the CardioSCORE test to three atherosclerosis imaging modalities including coronary artery calcium evaluation by computed tomography, ultrasound carotid intima-media thickness assessment, and ultrasound carotid atherosclerotic plaque quantification. Across the entire study cohort, investigators reported that the CardioSCORE test yielded near-term cardiovascular event prediction significantly better than conventional ultrasound imaging methodologies, and was of comparable predictive power as coronary artery calcium evaluation.

"BioImage Study: Novel Biomarker Panel (CardioSCORE) for the Prediction of First Major Cardiovascular Events across the Full Range of Framingham Risk Scores" assessed the extent of the additive predictive value of the CardioSCORE test to traditional risk factor scoring as aggregated in the Framingham Risk Score, in 6,600 study participants. Investigators reported that the addition of the CardioSCORE test to the Framingham Risk Score significantly increased the accuracy with which individuals at high risk for near-term events were correctly identified, particularly within the low and intermediate risk categories.

"BioImage Study: Combined Use of Novel Biomarker Panel (CardioSCORE) and Computed Tomography Coronary Calcium Scores in Predicting Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events" assessed 5,763 study participants to determine the extent of the additive predictive value of the CardioSCORE Test to coronary artery calcium scoring by computed tomography. Investigators reported that the addition of CardioSCORE test results to coronary artery calcium scoring significantly increased the accuracy with which individuals at high risk for near-term events were correctly identified across all levels of coronary calcification.

"These results suggest that the CardioSCORE test has the significant potential to provide valuable information about an individual's risk of experiencing a near-term heart attack or stroke," said Eric Bouvier, President and CEO of BG Medicine. "There is a critical need for a simple and easy-to-use blood test to more accurately determine a patient's risk for these types of catastrophic events."

About The CardioSCORE(TM) Test

The CardioSCORE test is a proprietary blood test that measures the levels of several protein biomarkers and integrates the results to yield a single numerical score that is related to an individual's risk for near-term major cardiovascular events. The CardioSCORE test is not yet commercially available and is currently under development in the United States.

About the BioImage Study

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BG Medicine Announces Data Analyses Presented at American Heart Association Meeting