Study Finds No Benefit from Stroke Drug

A large multicenter clinical trial has demonstrated that stroke patients treated within six hours with an experimental drug called gavestinel showed no improvement compared to patients given a placebo. The study was published in the April 4, 2001, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

The study involved 1,367 patients with ischemic stroke at 132 hospital centers in the United States and Canada. Roughly half received the drug, while the other half received placebo. Functional ability was measured at three months by the Barthel Index, a scale that assesses a patient's degree of independence or dependence on others for help with daily activities. No significant differences were found between the two groups.

Gavestinel (GV150526) was shown to have high affinity and high selectivity for the glycine site of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor complex in one site that has appeared to be a promising target for stroke drugs. In preclinical trials, the drug inhibited NMDA damage, reducing the infarct size by 50% in a rat model. "We still believe neuroprotection remains a viable strategy for acute stroke treatment and should continue to be studied,” said Dr. Ralph L. Sacco of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center (New York, NY, USA), who led the trial.