Agilent and NHCS Forge Partnership to Enhance Heart Failure Research

Agilent Technologies Inc. has entered into a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS) to propel research in metabolic heart failure. This collaboration aims to address one of the most complex and neglected areas in cardiovascular medicine, as heart failure continues to rank among the leading causes of death and disability globally.

Heart failure, particularly metabolic forms such as diabetic heart failure and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), presents significant challenges due to a scarcity of effective treatment options. The partnership will leverage Agilent’s advanced analytical technologies alongside NHCS’s expertise in human cardiac organoids, which are created from patient-derived heart tissues. This innovative approach will utilize the latest Agilent Seahorse XF Flex Analyzer, allowing for real-time metabolic analysis within three-dimensional tissues and organoid workflows.

Prof. Derek Hausenloy, director of the National Heart Research Institute Singapore (NHRIS) at NHCS, expressed optimism about the collaboration, stating, “Our partnership with Agilent allows us to advance the study of heart disease using patient-specific beating heart cells. By integrating NHCS’s expertise with Agilent’s technology, we can detect early changes in how heart cells utilize energy before visible damage occurs. This accelerates the discovery of new therapies and facilitates safe testing, ultimately offering hope to heart failure patients who currently face limited treatment options.”

NHCS has established itself as a pioneer in modeling monogenic cardiac diseases through patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). These efforts have led to the identification of novel therapeutic targets, which are currently undergoing clinical evaluation. By combining Agilent’s next-generation technology with NHCS’s Preclinical Platform for Development of Therapeutics for Heart Failure (PREVENT-HF), the partnership aims to generate hypotheses for clinical validation. This will provide valuable insights into disease progression, the development of novel therapies, and the evaluation of treatment safety and efficacy within clinically relevant models.

Bharat Bhardwaj, vice president of APAC sales at Agilent, emphasized the significance of this collaboration: “Together with NHCS, we are bridging science and technology to reimagine how metabolic heart failure is understood and treated through translational research. This partnership reflects our shared commitment to addressing the unmet needs in cardiovascular care while bolstering our leadership in the biomedical ecosystem. It positions us at the forefront of cardiovascular research both locally and globally.”

Over the past decade, Agilent has played a vital role in advancing research aimed at enhancing population health in Singapore. In 2019, a collaboration involving the National University of Singapore (NUS), National University Hospital (NUH), and Agilent resulted in the establishment of a research hub valued at $38 million. This initiative was designed to enhance clinical diagnostics and biochemistry testing. More recently, in partnership with NUS, Agilent has contributed to the NUS-Agilent Center of Excellence in Cell Metabolism as part of the Singapore Ministry of Health’s Project RESET and the Cardiovascular Metabolic Disease Translational Research Programme (CVMD-TRP), further supporting the PREVENT-HF initiative aimed at accelerating discoveries related to heart disease.

Agilent Technologies Inc., listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol A, is recognized as a global leader in analytical and clinical laboratory technologies. The company provides a comprehensive range of solutions—including instruments, software, services, and expertise—that assist customers in addressing their most pressing scientific challenges. In the fiscal year 2024, Agilent reported revenues of $6.51 billion and employs approximately 18,000 people worldwide. More information on Agilent can be found at www.agilent.com.

The National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS) serves as a premier national and regional referral centre for cardiovascular diseases, offering a wide array of cardiac care services, from preventive to rehabilitative. Recognized as the 12th best cardiology hospital globally by Newsweek in 2025, NHCS is committed to delivering high-quality clinical outcomes that meet or exceed international standards. The centre is also the sole facility in Singapore that provides heart and lung transplantation programs, and it is dedicated to training healthcare professionals while advancing cardiovascular health through innovative translational research in collaboration with both local and international partners. For more details, visit www.nhcs.com.sg.