New clot-busting drug to save lots of lives of 1000’s of stroke sufferers

A pioneering drug that can swiftly restore vital blood flow in stroke sufferers is set to save thousands of lives each year.

The clot-busting therapy, tenecteplase, has been shown in trials to be more effective and cheaper than similar drugs already on the market.

Tenecteplase, which breaks up blood clots and prevents further clotting after a stroke, will now be given to patients nationwide after it received the green light from the NHS spending watchdog on Friday.

Research shows the drug to be as efficient as alteplase, a stroke medication available on the NHS. 

But tenecteplase is much cheaper to produce, potentially saving the NHS millions of pounds every year.

Both alteplase and tenecteplase are used to treat ischaemic strokes, which occur when a blockage cuts off blood supply to part of the brain. 

The drugs are given within a few hours of the onset of symptoms of a stroke. 

Both work by activating the production of plasmin – an enzyme that breaks down blood clots – to restore blood flow.

But studies show that tenecteplase, a genetically modified version of alteplase, is better at targeting the specific proteins in clots as well as lasting longer in the body.

The medication can also be used to treat suspected heart attacks if given within six hours of symptoms beginning.

About 100,000 people in England are hospitalised with a stroke annually – with 85 per cent then found to have had an ischaemic stroke. 

A further million people in England are living with the effects of stroke.

‘Stroke is one of the biggest killers, so it is important that patients receive treatments that can help to reduce the effects of a stroke as quickly as possible,’ said Helen Knight of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which decides which drugs the NHS will fund.

‘The NHS could save millions of pounds by switching to the new treatment, making it a very effective use of taxpayer money.’