MEDICAL TRENDS Potential Stroke Drug Catches Industry's Eye.(THE NEW AMERICA)

Byline: GLORIA LAU

About 700,000 Americans a year suffer a stroke, making it the third leading cause of death in the U.S. Women account for three of every five deaths. It's no surprise, then, that a number of health care firms are eyeing potential treatments for the disease. Every February, data from clinical studies of new and old treatments are discussed at the annual conference of the American Stroke Association. This year a lot of attention was paid to ReoPro, a drug made by Johnson & Johnson's Centocor unit and marketed by Eli Lilly & Co. The drug, also known as abciximab, is already on the market to prevent blood clots during angioplasty. Recently the companies have studied the drug's effect on stroke patients when given within six hours after an attack. "If ReoPro is successful in patients (who get to the hospital and take the drug) up to six hours later, that would quintuple the number of stroke patients we can treat," said Dr. Elliot Barnathan, senior director of clinical research and development at Centocor.

Currently the only treatment on the market with the Food and Drug Administration's permission is Genentech's Inc.'s tPA, a clot buster that's been on the market since 1996.

The trouble with tPA, however, is that within three hours after the attack, doctors and nurses must infuse the drug. That's not so easy.

First of all, few victims realize they're having a stroke to begin with. Even if they do, they must get to a hospital and undergo a battery of tests. It's a time-consuming process.

"Despite all of its proven efficacy, tPA is used in too few stroke patients," said Dr. Ralph Sacco, a professor of neurology and epidemiology at Columbia University. "Part of the reason is the three-hour time window. And part of it is the public's lack of understanding of strokes' warning symptoms."

This is why recent ReoPro data generated interest.