Stroke: New French treatment promises to halve mortality

The results of a recent study conducted by French researchers offer hope for the treatment of stroke.

They worry about glenzosimab, a new drug that can reduce the risk of death by more than 50%.

In order to thin the blood, it is to be administered in addition to standard treatment.

Better recovery and lower mortality. This, in essence, shows the results of a phase 2 clinical trial of a new anti-stroke drug, glanzomab. Published this Tuesday in the magazine The Lancet Neurology

The Actimis study by Acticor Biotech, which developed this treatment, was conducted on more than 160 patients in six European countries who had suffered an acute ischemic stroke (80% of cases in France).

“It’s a drug that will prevent clot formation. But it won’t increase the risk of bleeding,” has explained France Inter One of its authors, Professor Michel Mazighi, head of the Department of Neurology at Lariboissiere Hospital in Paris.

Reduction in the number of severe disabilities

In more detail, study participants received glanzomab, a drug that aims to thin the blood, in addition to the standard stroke treatment, namely thrombolysis. Verdict: “The mortality rate was 19% in patients who did not receive the drug, and the mortality rate dropped to 8% in patients who received the drug, so the mortality rate was reduced by more than 50%,”

Mikael Mazighi explains.

Among patients treated with glanzomab, there was also a reduction in the number of severe disabilities, with stroke being the leading cause of non-traumatic motor disability in France.

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These results, however, stress the researchers, must be confirmed during phase 3 studies.

As a benchmark, according to the Stroke Research Foundation, the number of new strokes reported in France each year is estimated at 150,000, or one stroke every four minutes. According to data from Public Health France, the incidence is increasing among French people under the age of 65, which makes it clear that it is the leading cause of death, especially among women.