A New Pill Could Reduce the Risk of Having a Second Stroke

Résumé détaillé

Asundexian, which will be sold under the brand name Sunharbo, is a daily pill that is the first to target a specific factor in the blood-clotting process that can contribute to st…

On November 9, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new type of medication to reduce the risk of strokes in certain populations.

Asundexian, which will be sold under the brand name Sunharbo, is a daily pill that is the first to target a specific factor in the blood-clotting process that can contribute to stroke. In a study submitted to the FDA by Bayer, researchers found that the drug, when combined with an antiplatelet therapy such as aspirin, reduced the risk of an additional stroke by 26% in just over a year compared to people who received placebo and the antiplatelet therapy.

“The data is quite robust, and the feedback from the international stroke community is positive,” says Dr. Ashkan Shoamanesh, professor of medicine at McMaster University, who co-led the trial. “We’re eager to have this on hand as soon as possible for patients.”

There are two types of strokes: ischemic strokes, caused by blockages in the blood vessels, can impede blood flow to critical organs including the brain, and hemorrhagic strokes, caused by weakened blood vessels that burst in the brain and cause excessive bleeding. About 87% of strokes in the U.S. are ischemic.

Each year, about 795,000 people in the U.S. have a stroke, and nearly one in four strokes occur in people who have previously had one. Recurrent strokes represent an unmet treatment challenge, says Shoamanesh. But treating ischemic strokes requires using just enough clot-breaking—or blood thinning—medications to dissolve the blockage without causing excessive bleeding. Asundexian appears to do just that. The 26% reduction in stroke risk occurred without any significant increase in bleeding events, according to Bayer’s data. “We used to always have a challenging balancing act,” says Shoamanesh.

Researchers have known for years that some people born with a genetically driven lower risk of stroke have lower levels of a compound involved in blood clotting, called Factor XIa, in their blood.

It took more than a decade…

Début de l'article, extrait de Time. Pour lire la suite, ouvrez l'article chez le média.