Boehringer Ingelheim presents data showing ‘superior anti-stroke drug’

Boehringer Ingelheim has said that the details of a trial published in the Lancet show that its anti-stroke stroke drugs Aggrenox and Asasantin Retard (extended-release dipyridamole) are “superior” in preventing thrombotic events in comparison to acetyl salicylic acid (aspirin).

Aspirin is often prescribed as a preventative medicine to prevent strokes from recurring. The study showed that the Boehringer Ingelheim drugs showed a “statistically significant” 20 per cent relative reduction of nonfatal strokes, death, major bleeding complications and nonfatal myocardial infarctions.

The ESPIRIT study, which involved researchers from the UK, included 2,739 patients who have experienced transient ischaemic attacks (TIA, sometimes referred to as a mini-strokes) or minor ischaemic strokes, in 79 centres in 15 countries.

Professor Philip Bath, professor of stroke medicine at the University of Nottingham, said: “Patients who have had a minor stroke or TIA have an increased risk of suffering a second and often severe or fatal event. Thirty percent of TIA patients suffer an ischaemic stroke within five years.”

“The ESPRIT results, combined with the outcome of previous trials, provide sufficient evidence to advocate the combination of aspirin and dipyridamole as the antithrombotic therapy of choice after ischaemic stroke or TIA,” he added.

According to the British Heart Foundation, TIA is caused by a temporary obstruction of blood flow to the brain, but unlike a stroke, the symptoms do not last for long. It says that the risk of a full stroke is increased after experiencing a TIA.

The Stroke Association says that 130,000 Britons suffer a stroke each year, of which a third die within the first ten days.

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