The European Commission (EC) has awarded a grant of almost $16 million (EUR12 million) to the Heart Omics in Ageing (HOMAGE) consortium project, which aims to prevent heart failure through identifying more specific biomarkers for heart failure and then developing methods for earlier diagnosis and –omic profile targeted treatment of elderly patients at risk of heart failure.  

Heart failure incidence is rising worldwide, due both to an aging population and increasing prevalence of risk factors, including obesity, diabetes and hypertension. Diagnosis of heart failure in elderly people with co-morbidities can be difficult, and the HOMAGE consortium, directed by Faiez Zannad, MD, PhD, of the Centre d’Investigation Clinique Pierre Drouin Inserm in Nancy, France, is researching more accurate methods of heart failure diagnosis in these patients through validating potential biomarkers for heart failure.

Researchers will identify promising heart failure biomarker candidates in blood and cross-analyze genomics, proteomics and other mechanisms in a cohort of 30,000 patients. HOMAGE will assess the predictive value of the biomarkers for heart failure and other common co-morbidities prevalent in the elderly population. A clinical trial to identify novel treatments for heart failure based on the patient’s biomarker profile is planned.