Narayana Hrudayalaya, the leading cardiac care major in Karnataka and the Thrombosis Research Institute, London, UK have teamed up to set up Thrombosis Research Institute, India. The facility located at the Narayana Hrudayalaya is undertaking research on heart vaccine to prevent heart attacks. The human trials should commence by 2008-2009 and an additional five years from there for commercialisation of the vaccine.

The research is a Department of Biotechnology funded programme and a Tata Trust initiative. President of India APJ Kalam inaugurated the state-of-the-art research facility.

The affordable vaccine is expected to immunize vulnerable adolescents against cardiovascular diseases including atherosclerosis, which is a condition of blood vessel thickening. The vaccine would be an effective way of arresting the disease even before it strikes, said Dr Devi Prasad Shetty, managing director Narayana Hrudayalaya and Thrombosis Research Institute 's trustee.

Dr Shetty, a renowned cardiac surgeon in the country said that cardiovascular disorders are a recognizable complaint. For the research, the medico-scientists have assessed over 3,500 affected patients below the age of 55 who have suffered a stroke or a coronary disorder and then traced it as heredity linkage to establish the effectiveness of the vaccine. The study intends to investigate 12,500 cases before 2008.

The present analysis already indicates that in India cardio vascular disease is not just a geriatric condition but also a disease, which has been affecting even the young population. Presently heart ailments are a dreadful epidemic growing in magnitude. Around 10 per cent of India's one billion population are affected with ischemic diseases. Every 140th person is diagnosed with congenital heart diseases and one in 1,000 are affected with rheumatic heart condition.

Cardiac surgeons need to perform 25 lakh heart surgeries every year but the current estimates indicate only 70,000 surgeries. The shortfall is attributed primarily to lack of awareness and affordability for surgery.

The joint venture with TRI London which is a multidisciplinary organization focusing on interrelated problems of thrombosis and atherosclerosis, has given a platform for TRI India to pursue genetic studies to assess the increased susceptibility to premature heart diseases using a broad strategy for genomic screening, fine mapping of candidate gene analysis and family association. This will allow faster drug discovery, in novel and affordable therapies.