Berlin, Germany --Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals (Bayer) will be working together with the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Translational Heart Failure Research (LBI.HF) in Graz, which was founded early October 2011. The LBI.HF has the task to develop new methods for the early diagnosis and causal treatment of heart failure (heart-muscle weakness or myocardial insufficiency). The opening ceremony of another Ludwig Boltzmann Institute (for Lung Vascular Research) took place in June 2011 which has emerged from a Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft (LBG) call for proposals. Bayer is already one of the partners of the LBI for Lung Vascular Research and the latest inauguration of the LBI.HF now broadens Bayer’s partnership with the LBG.

Heart failure currently affects more than 23 million people worldwide, and patient numbers are rising. The patients' complaints often initially include very general symptoms such as a reduced ability to withstand stress (drop in performance), abnormal fatigue and tiredness, as well as shortness of breath, swelling of the legs, and heart-rhythm disorders (cardiac dysrhythmia). The 5-year mortality rate for patients with heart failure is larger than 50%, which is higher than that of many cancers.

"Bayer has been working for some time in heart failure research, an area of high unmet medical need. Our new collaboration with the LBI will perfectly complement our research activities in cardiology. We want to jointly develop new therapy options for treating heart failure," says Dr. Martin Bechem, Head of the Therapeutic Research Group Cardiology and Hematology at Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals. "For Bayer the establishment of the new Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Translational Heart Failure Research is another important milestone in our cooperation with the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft in the field of cardiovascular research."

At LBI.HF 18 scientists work in close cooperation with the new institute's partners. Apart from Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, these include the Medical University of Graz, the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), the Karl-Franzens University in Graz, the Styrian Health Insurance Fund and the Styrian Hospital Company. The LBI.HF is part of the Center for Medical Research at the Medical University of Graz (MedUni Graz). Cardiovascular Research is one of the research focuses at the MedUni Graz and, with over 70 researchers in this field, offers an ideal environment for scientific cooperation and for integrating the LBI.HF into international research networks.

"The particular strengths of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Translational Heart Failure Research's novel approach to research are the fact that both basic research and clinical research in a translational institute cover related subjects and that the two are geographically close to each other," says Prof. Dr. Burkert Pieske, Head of the LBI for Translational Heart Failure Research. "The cooperation between academic centers, industrial partners like Bayer, healthcare insurers and payers aims to ensure that the research and innovation objectives are pursued in a target-oriented way – and reached efficiently and quickly. The focused collaboration between renowned basic researchers, application-oriented scientists and heart specialists with years of clinical experience makes it possible to engage in internationally competitive research in which the paramount goal is to improve the medical care and quality of life of the patients.”

The research work at LBI.HF is divided into four subprojects. The first two study the molecular and cellular mechanisms of heart failure and related heart-rhythm disorders. One of these subprojects aims to identify blood and urine constituents as potential biomarkers that might help identify heart-muscle weakness in at-risk patients at an early stage and later help assess the further course of the disease and the treatment. In collaboration with heart-failure specialists of the Clinical Cardiology Division of MedUni Graz, the other subprojects study patients with an increased risk of developing heart failure. Furthermore, the LBI.HF is also developing a new telemedical care system (involving the transmission of vital signs from home) for patients with advanced heart failure. The aim of this telemedical care system, which will be developed in cooperation with the AIT, is to detect any deterioration in the patients' health at an early stage and to prevent any worsening of their condition by adjusting drug therapy.

About heart failure
Heart failure (heart-muscle weakness or myocardial insufficiency) currently affects more than 23 million people worldwide. Approx. 2 million new cases of heart failure are diagnosed each year. The patients' complaints often initially include very general symptoms, such as a reduced ability to withstand stress (drop in performance), abnormal fatigue and tiredness, as well as shortness of breath, swelling of the legs, and heart-rhythm disorders (cardiac dysrhythmia). Limitations in routine daily life and frequent hospital visits reduce the patients' quality of life and also represent a significant health-economic cost factor. The 5-year mortality rate for patients with heart failure is larger than 50%, higher than that of many cancers. At present, the only chance of a cure for patients with advanced heart failure is a heart transplant., it has not been translated.

 

Source: Bay News, The Bayer Press Server