Australia’s Heart Research Institute (HRI) has made a breakthrough 25 years in the making, identifying, and developing a new anti-clotting drug that shows great promise in the treatment of stroke.
The drug (TBO-309) has the potential to improve blood flow to the brain and reduce and/or prevent brain injury, with the researchers beginning Phase II Clinical trials in 80 stroke patients in six leading hospitals across Australia.
HRI’s Thrombosis Group lead researcher, Prof Shaun Jackson, said his team has already demonstrated in preclinical models that when combining this new anti-clotting drug with existing stroke therapies, blood flow to the brain can be improved, reducing, and preventing brain injury.
“If this drug can improve blood flow to the brain, without causing excessive bleeding, it could be a game changer in advancing the traditional methods of treating ischaemic stroke, improving the quality of life for thousands of stroke sufferers,” Prof Jackson said.
“If successful, this discovery will be the first drug breakthrough for the treatment of stroke in more than three decades of research. It could minimise the cognitive and physical disabilities caused by stroke.”
The new drug belongs to a similar group of antiplatelets such as aspirin.
“There’s consensus that to reduce the risk of heart attack in some patients, they should take an aspirin and this drug could be that for stroke,” Prof Jackson said.
“Approximately 85% of strokes are ischaemic, caused by the blockage of an artery by a blood clot within the brain, reducing cerebral blood flow. If not resolved within a few hours, there can be irreversible brain damage.
“Many stroke victims are never able to return to their normal life. Some are unable to work, while others end up in nursing homes, no matter their age.
“We know people in rural parts of the country usually fare the worst, simply because of the time it takes to get treatment. Advance stroke care is only available in major hospitals, and we think this drug can help balance the gap between rural and city health.”
There is currently only a single treatment which dissolves blood clots in the acute phase of stroke, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and HRI Assoc Prof Simone Schoenwaelder said the problem was that only 10% of stroke victims could receive it.
“Our eureka movement was discovering this new anti-clotting drug could improve the function of tPA and reduce stroke injury,” she said.
“When the anti-clotting drug is combined with tPA, it not only helps dissolve the stroke-causing blood clot more effectively, but it can stop the clot from reforming altogether by targeting different and complementary components of the blood clot.
“The most exciting thing is that it does so without an added risk of bleeding, which we know leads to more strokes, so this drug may help reduce risk of another stroke.”
If successful, it will mean 90% of stroke sufferers could now have increased options when it comes to treatment in those crucial first 12 hours.
“The benefit of this novel anti-clotting drug is its unprecedented safety profile. Unlike aspirin and other antiplatelets on the market, its anti-clotting activity comes without the potentially devastating risk of bleeding that can lead to further brain damage and death,” Assoc Prof Schoenwaelder said.
“While combination therapy delivers the greatest benefit, the drug could also have the potential to be beneficial to certain groups of patients without tPA, because it appears to be very safe.”