Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc. (HDL, Inc.) Announces Availability of Galectin-3 Testing Service in Partnership With BG Medicine

RICHMOND, Va., March 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc. (HDL, Inc.) and BG Medicine, Inc. (Nasdaq: BGMD), announced today an agreement under which HDL, Inc. will offer galectin-3 testing services based on the BG Medicine Galectin-3 Test.  

The BG Medicine Galectin-3 Test was recently cleared by the FDA as an aid in assessing the prognosis of patients with chronic heart failure. Elevated galectin-3 levels are associated with an inherently progressive form of heart failure that is associated with an increased risk of hospitalization or death. Galectin-3 has been implicated in a variety of biological processes important in heart failure development and progression, including fibrosis. Progressive cardiac fibrosis interferes with the cardiac pump function and increases the risk of death.  

The collaboration between BG Medicine and HDL, Inc. provides physicians with convenient access to galectin-3 testing to complement the range of cardiovascular tests already offered by HDL, Inc.

"HDL, Inc. is providing a new model of laboratory testing services to over 5,000 physicians with an emphasis on markers related to cardiovascular disease," said Pieter Muntendam, MD, President and CEO of BG Medicine. "The cardiovascular focus of HDL, Inc. makes this an excellent partnership to bring our message of the importance of galectin-3 in cardiac disease to the growing number physicians served by HDL, Inc."

Heart failure is a serious medical condition characterized by the heart's inability to pump blood efficiently to meet the requirements of the body's other organs. According to the American Heart Association, heart failure affects an estimated 5.8 million Americans with 670,000 new diagnoses each year. The estimated direct and indirect cost of this condition in the US is $39.2 billion.  

"Galectin-3 further enhances our extensive cardiovascular disease offering," said Tonya Mallory, CEO and co-founder of Virginia-headquartered HDL, Inc. "Novel markers like galectin-3 are expected to enable a new medical model where physicians can triage patients not only based on their clinical status on the day of the visit, but also based on the type of underlying disease process and its prognostic implications."  

About HDL, Inc.

Health Diagnostic Laboratory Inc. (HDL, Inc.), a CAP accredited leader in health management, offers a comprehensive test menu of risk factors and biomarkers for cardiovascular and related diseases. Our systematic approach identifies factors contributing to disease and provides a basis for effective personalized treatment, allowing physicians to more effectively manage patients. As an added value, patients receive a personalized overview of their risk factors along with intensive counseling from expert Health Coaches at no additional cost, improving compliance and enhancing potential outcomes. For more information, www.myhdl.com.

About BG Medicine

BG Medicine (NASDAQ: BGMD) is a life sciences company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel diagnostics based on biomarkers to improve patient outcomes and contain healthcare costs. To learn more about galectin-3 visit our website www.galectin-3.com. To learn more about our organization, visit our Web site at: www.bg-medicine.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "will," "would," "should," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "may," "estimates," "predicts," "projects," or similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees of future performance, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. In particular, the risks and uncertainties include, among other things: our history of operating losses; our ability to transition into a commercial organization and generate sufficient revenue to sustain our business; our estimates of future performance, including the expected timing of the launch of our products; our ability to conduct the clinical studies required for regulatory clearance or approval and to demonstrate the clinical benefits and cost-effectiveness to support commercial acceptance of our products; the timing, costs and other limitations involved in obtaining regulatory clearance or approval for any of our product candidates; the potential benefits of our product candidates over current medical practices or other diagnostics; our ability to successfully develop, receive regulatory clearance or approval, commercialize and achieve market acceptance for any of our products and product candidates; willingness of third-party payors to reimburse for the cost of our tests at prices that allow us to generate sufficient profit margins; our reliance on third parties, including our ability to enter into collaboration agreements with respect to our product candidates and the performance of our collaborative partners under such agreements; our ability to protect our intellectual property and operate our business without infringing upon the intellectual property rights of others; the expected timing, progress or success of our research and development and commercialization efforts; our ability to successfully obtain sufficient supplies of samples for our biomarker discovery and development efforts; our estimates regarding anticipated operating losses, future revenue, expenses, capital requirements and our needs for additional financing; our ability to recruit, hire and retain qualified personnel; and the limited public float and trading volume for our common stock and volatility in our stock price. Existing and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise the information contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise. For additional disclosure regarding these and other risks faced by the Company, see the disclosure contained in our public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K under the heading "Risk Factors", which is available on the Company's investor relations website at http://www.bg-medicine.com and on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov.

SOURCE HDL, Inc.