- BG Medicine (OTC:BGMD) amends its License and Distribution Agreement with Abbott Diagnostics (ABT) lowering the fees paid to BG for galectin-3 tests sold by Abbott to reference laboratories. The specific amount of the reduction is undisclosed. The original fees will remain unchanged for all other customer segments.
- BG chief Paul Sohmer, M.D., says, "We believe this modification to our agreement will open up a new customer segment for automated testing as well as expedite the transition for existing customers from manual to automated testing for galectin-3. We expect that, as a result, the majority of revenues currently generated from sales of manual test kits will, over time, likely be replaced by product fees generated from the sale of automated tests by our automated partners when their automated tests become available. This modification to our agreement further bolsters our efforts to accelerate adoption of galectin-3 testing.
- Abbott's Diagnostics Division is marketing the automated galectin-3 test as part of the test menu of its Architect immunoassay analyzer. The test is used to help identify chronic heart failure patients who are clinically stable but have a higher risk of adverse events such as hospitalization and mortality.