Perlegen Sciences, Inc. announced a research collaboration with AstraZeneca to discover gene variants that predispose patients to heart attack (myocardial infarction). The goal of the collaboration is to identify relatively common variations in DNA that significantly raise heart attack risk in individuals carrying them, and to use such discoveries to enable the research and development of new pharmaceutical and diagnostic products.

Perlegen will employ its proprietary genotyping technologies and knowledge of human genetic variation to identify genes and other genetic loci associated with heart attack. In the collaboration, Perlegen will genotype Perlegen-identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in over one thousand samples to identify disease-associated genetic markers for AstraZeneca. Financial terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.

Myocardial infarction occurs when the blood supply to part of the heart muscle is blocked sufficiently to cause damage. This is typically caused by the narrowing or obstruction of diseased coronary arteries supplying blood to the heart muscle. While millions of people suffer a heart attack each year-and half of these attacks are fatal-little is known about the common genetic factors shared by these individuals. Understanding these factors will help clinicians to better assess heart attack risk in their patients, and may lead to new treatments to prevent and treat the underlying disease.

"Myocardial infarction represents an important focus area for our researchers," said Dr Morten Sogaard, director and Head of Molecular Sciences, Cardiovascular & Gastrointestinal Research, AstraZeneca R&D at Molndal, Sweden. "We look forward to initiating this collaboration with Perlegen which will accelerate our search for the genetic and biological underpinnings of this disease."

"Understanding the many genetic and other factors causing complex disorders such as heart attacks has historically been a significant challenge to the research community," said Brad Margus, CEO of Perlegen. "We are pleased to collaborate with AstraZeneca, applying Perlegen's pharmacogenomics technology to further the research being conducted at AstraZeneca in cardiovascular disease."