A new medication being developed at HRI has been confirmed to be safe in preclinical laboratory studies and has the potential to help thousands of ischaemic stroke sufferers every year.
Channel 9's Health Reporter Gabriella Rogers spoke to Professor Simone Schoenwaelder and PhD student Jessica Maclean from the Thrombosis Group to understand the impact this new medication will have on patients and health care professionals around the world.
“This drug basically works on a different part of the clot. We believe if we can combine it with existing therapies it might actually break up the clot better,” says Professor Simone Schoenwaelder.
Bondi Lifeguard Bruce ‘Hoppo’ Hopkins also shared his personal story about stroke, and why this research is so important.
At the moment, only one drug is available for stroke survivors — tPA (also referred to as thrombolysis). Only 10 per cent of patients can use it due to side effects.
The Heart Research Institute is raising money to take the research to Phase 2 clinical trials by launching a crowdfunding campaign called ‘Donate A Dose’. Read more about this initiative on our Donate a Dose crowdfunding page.