Heart-Failure Blood Test OK’d

Biosite Inc. said it had received Food and Drug Administration approval to market a heart-failure blood test for Beckman Coulter Inc.

The Triage test detects a marker in the blood that can help diagnose congestive heart failure within 15 minutes, San Diego-based Biosite said.

The test also helps doctors diagnose the severity of heart failure, reducing unnecessary hospitalization and treatment for patients who are short of breath, and possibly saving more than $7 billion in health-care costs annually in the U.S., according to company research.

Sales of Triage, which is available in Europe, more than tripled in the first six months of this year, to $27.8 million from $8.1 million a year earlier.

About 5 million Americans have heart failure, in which a weakened, enlarged heart fails to pump blood effectively, the company said.

Shares of Biosite rose $1.29, or 4.6%, to $29.25 in Nasdaq trading.

The shares have dropped 18% this year.

The product, which detects B-type natriuretic peptide in the blood, is available through Biosite’s sales force and Fisher Healthcare, a unit of Fisher Scientific International Inc.

Beckman Coulter, based in Fullerton, will manufacture the test.