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

“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. “Here we have the major benefits without the bleeding risk, so there is a large amount of excitement.”