About The HRP Initiative

Heart attack and stroke are two related cardiovascular conditions that are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the Western world. They are also increasingly more common in the developing world where they will achieve similar epidemic proportions.

Heart attack and strokes are caused by blockage of the blood supply to the heart muscle or brain respectively. One source of vessel blockage is the formation of blood clots or thrombosis in the lumen of the blood vessels, preventing adequate blood flow to the tissues. During the past 10 years, marked progress has been made in understanding the underlying problem of atherothrombosis, which is a condition which results from the rupture of a weakened atherosclerotic plaque, also known as a vulnerable plaque, in the blood vessel wall. The rupture can cause an acute blood clot in the vessel (thrombosis), which halts the blood flow in the vessel and causes damage to the heart or brain.

Individuals who have vulnerable plaques in their vessel walls have little to no symptoms. Heart attack and strokes are often the first manifestations of vulnerable plaque, meaning that this condition is most often diagnosed too late.

Several leading companies have come together to collectively design, fund and execute a number of important studies to discover and validate methods and tests that will find individuals with vulnerable plaque. This effort is known as the HRP Initiative and the founding companies of HRP are Merck & Co., AstraZeneca, Philips, Takeda, Abbott and BG Medicine.

The HRP Initiative aims to discover and develop methods to find vulnerable plaque early - before the first heart attack or stroke. Scientists are confident that if individuals with this condition can be identified early, they can be effectively treated. Early diagnosis and treatment could prevent many instances of heart attack and stroke.

The HRP Initiative is led by many of the foremost scientists in the field of cardiovascular disease, radiology and other medical disciplines. The Scientific Program Board is led by co-chairs Dr. Valentin Fuster of Mount Sinai University New York and Dr. Erling Falk of Aarhaus University Hospital in Denmark.