Is NXY-059 an advancement in the treatment of acute ischaemic stroke?

The only pharmacological treatment for acute ischaemic stroke used at present is tissue plasminogen activator. The nitrone NXY-049 has been shown to be neuroprotective in a variety of animal models. The SAINT (Stoke Acute Ischemic NXY-059 Treatment) 1 trial has shown that, on the modified Rankin scale at 90 days, there were slightly more patients with no symptoms in the NXY-059 group than the placebo group. Conversely, there were slightly fewer patients with a score of 4 (moderately-severe disability) in the NXY-059 group than placebo group. NXY-059 was well tolerated. These data suggest that NXY-059 may be a modest advancement for the treatment of acute ischaemic stroke.