Cooling the brain within 6 hours of a stroke has been proven in pilot studies to be remarkably effective in saving patients and reducing brain damage.  The Framework 7 grant will be used to fund an EU-wide multicentre Phase 3 clinical trial in 25 countries involving 60 participating universities to treat 1,500 volunteer stroke victims with mild hypothermia.  Details of the clinical study were released in Brussels earlier today (www.eurohyp.org).

For this clinical trial, Proteome Sciences as a consortium member will be undertaking the biomarker analysis of patient samples in blood and using MS based assays that it has developed incorporating proprietary stroke biomarkers it has previously discovered and validated.

At present the treatment options for stroke are very limited. The early use of anti-blood clotting drugs and aspirin improve the outcome of patients with ischaemic stroke.  However, typically less than 10% of patients with acute stroke receive anti-blood clotting treatments mainly because of the short time window for effective treatment. Consequently there is a real need for efficient and cost-effective therapies.

Hypothermia, the lowering of body temperature below normal levels, has emerged as one of the most promising future interventions for the therapeutic treatment of acute ischaemic stroke. It is already used effectively in reducing ischaemic brain injury following cardiac arrest and birth injuries. Its effect is akin to ‘hibernation’, reducing the need for oxygen in the brain and preventing further damage.

Commenting on the announcement, Dr. Ian Pike, Chief Operational Officer of Proteome Sciences said:“We are delighted to be part of the Euro-HYP consortium and to have the opportunity to use our biomarker expertise and assays across this large scale multicentre clinical trial. Early diagnosis and hypothermic therapy may provide a low cost and effective way to treat the 15m people annually who have a stroke and which is the second leading global cause of death.”