(This is part of the Health Rounds newsletter, where we feature the latest medical studies on Tuesdays and Thursdays)
By Nancy Lapid
Dec 3 (Reuters) – Stroke patients who cannot get to the hospital quickly enough to qualify for common clot-busting treatment may soon have another option, results of a mid-stage trial suggest.
Currently available thrombolytic drugs should be given within a few hours of the onset of symptoms. That narrow window can rule out patients who don’t seek help right away, or can’t because they don’t immediately recognize their symptoms, as well as those who wake up with symptoms of a stroke that started hours earlier.
An experimental drug developed by Silver Creek Pharmaceuticals and dubbed scp776 inhibits apoptosis, a process in which injured cells self-destruct.
The drug keeps injured cells alive by providing a hormone called insulin-like growth factor 1, or IGF-1, which activates the cells’ natural repair pathways.
In 119 patients who came to emergency departments 12 hours after stroke onset — for whom there was no approved drug treatment — scp776 led to a clinically meaningful improvement in outcomes compared to placebo, researchers reported at the 2025 World Stroke Congress in Barcelona.
“It is very promising to see a therapy that leverages the brain’s own recovery mechanisms to improve stroke outcomes in the clinic,” Silver Creek Chief Scientific Officer Chris Kuchenbecker said in a statement.
At the time of hospital discharge, or day 7 after symptom onset, patients receiving scp776 had an average clinically significant 2.26-point higher score on the 42-point NIH Stroke Scale than those receiving placebo, although the difference fell short of statistical significance.
At 90 days, the treatment resulted in a 15% increase in the relative proportion of patients achieving functional independence, the researchers reported.
This drug has received FDA Fast Track designation for acute ischemic strokes caused by blockages in the arteries that supply blood to the brain. The Food and Drug Administration provides designation to accelerate the development and review of treatments for serious conditions with unmet need.
“Scp776 harnesses the well-understood maintenance power of growth factors in a targeted manner, finally providing massive pre-clinical evidence of the therapeutic benefit of IGF-1,” said Kuchenbecker.
AI improves screening for fetal heart problems
Artificial intelligence software could improve fetal screening for congenital heart defects, according to the results of a new study.
Using a device from medical company BrightHeart, researchers analyzed 200 fetal ultrasound scans obtained in the second trimester of pregnancy from women at 11 medical centers in two countries, including 100 with at least one suspicious finding.
Seven obstetrician-gynecologists and seven doctors specializing in high-risk pregnancies reviewed each exam in random order, both with and without AI assistance, looking for findings that could indicate the presence of a serious heart defect.
According to a report in Obstetrics and Gynecology, physicians detected more suspicious lesions in less time than without AI.
Overall, their detection rate increased from 82% to more than 97%, with an 18% reduction in reading time and a 19% improvement in confidence scores.
“Our study should accelerate and encourage future research into the ability of AI-assisted software to improve detection rates… (and) reduce variability and disparities in the detection of congenital heart defects worldwide,” said study co-leader Dr. Andrei Rebarber said in a statement.
“When AI software is used as an adjunct to physician interpretation, the future of prenatal diagnostic imaging is bright.”
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(Reporting by Nancy Lapid; Editing by Bill Burkrot)
