Accurate Diagnosis And Enrollment Criteria Improve Intracerebral Hemorrhage Research

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is responsible for half of all stroke-related deaths but attracts only a fraction of the attention its better-known relative ischemic stroke gets. At Bioxodes, a clinical-phase biotech company, we faced a poignant consequence of this paradox when we struggled to recruit sufficient ICH patients into a clinical trial. Trial protocols are based largely on experiences with ischemic stroke patients, investigators noticed, which are very different from those with ICH. This real-life example underscores that not only is ICH a disease that needs better research funding, it also needs more public awareness.

How Bioxodes is rewriting the rules of haemorrhagic stroke treatment

There is currently no approved treatment for intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH), the deadliest form of stroke. But Bioxodes, a Walloon start-up, believes the answer may lie in one of nature’s most unlikely places: the saliva of ticks. The company is developing a drug inspired by this natural compound and could become the first to commercialise a treatment for ICH, potentially changing the outlook for thousands of patients worldwide.