Forest Labs Starts Confirmatory Study of Desmoteplase for Stroke

Forest Laboratories has initiated a Phase IIb/III study of desmoteplase, an investigational novel plasminogen activator, or blood clot buster, for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke.

The DIAS2 (Desmoteplase in Acute Ischemic Stroke) study will be a multicenter, multinational, randomized, parallel-design, dose-ranging study of more than 150 patients to confirm the results of earlier Phase II studies that demonstrated the potential of desmoteplase to treat acute ischemic stroke patients up to nine hours after the onset of stroke symptoms, three times longer than the currently available treatment allows.

Because most stroke patients arrive at the hospital outside the accepted three hour treatment window, the majority of patients are not eligible for the currently available treatment. Lengthening that window may expand the number of patients who could benefit from treatment.