Chinese drug loberamisal extends stroke treatment window from 6 hours to 2 days

Chinese medical scientists have shattered the brief window of time available to limit stroke damage, effectively shielding injured brain cells and dramatically improving the odds of a full recovery.

Brain cells start dying within minutes of a clot blocking an artery, leading to facial droop, affected speech and in severe cases, paralysis or death. Emergency treatments, such as clot-busting drugs or surgery, must be given within a maximum of six hours.

According to a study published by the top-tier Journal of the American Medical Association on September 10, clinical trials of the drug loberamisal found it was possible to expand the time available to 48 hours.

The large-scale multicentre phase 3 trial found that 70 per cent of patients who received loberamisal intravenously within two days of a stroke regained complete functional independence – an increase of 13 percentage points over standard care alone.