AstraZeneca undertakes two-year collaboration with Singaporean organizations for heart failure

Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) is to undertake a two-year collaboration with leading organizations in Singapore, including the Agency for Science, Technology and Research and the National University of Singapore, to support research into new heart failure therapies.

The collaboration aims to advance understanding of the pathophysiology of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, for which there is currently no effective treatment. It will make use of clinical, cardiac imaging, and blood data collected through the Singapore Heart Failure Outcomes and Phenotypes study from patients with heart failure representative of the populations in and around Singapore. The organizations will use this information to distinguish between subsets of patients and identify the molecular pathway leading to heart failure with preserved ejection fraction before establishing biomarkers and eventually new treatments.

Marcus Schindler, head of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, innovative medicines and early development at AstraZeneca, said: “We are delighted to be working with A*STAR and NUHCS because these organizations foster world-class scientific research in cardiovascular disease. Our collaboration will enable leading bioscientists, statisticians and clinicians to work closely together to deliver the planned research program. The work will help us further define patient populations that may benefit from the cardiovascular therapies we are developing.”