Stroke patients treated intravenously with loberamisal, a novel neuroprotective medication, daily for 10 days and starting within 48 hours of stroke symptoms, had better recovery than patients who received a placebo, according to a preliminary late-breaking science presentation at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2026. The meeting, from February 4 to 6, 2026, in New Orleans, is a world premiere meeting for researchers and clinicians dedicated to the science of stroke and brain health.
The study is a Phase III clinical trial, a large-scale study to evaluate the effectiveness of a new treatment. The study goal is to test loberamisal, a new-generation dual-target treatment strategy designed to protect brain cells (neuroprotective agent) within the first 2 days after a stroke. “Neuroprotective agents may help improve patient outcomes since they are aimed at preserving the function of neurovascular units. However, trials for most of these agents have not been successful,” said study author Shuya Li, M.D., director of the Clinical Trial Center and head of the Phase I Clinical Research Unit at Beijing Tiantan Hospital in Beijing. “In this trial, we tested loberamisal, a small-molecule, dual-acting neuroprotective agent that was an effective neuroprotectant in rodent studies. New treatments for stroke may come from multi-target neuroprotective agents, which could lead to important advancements in reducing or preventing disability after a stroke.”
The American Stroke Association’s new 2026 Guideline for the Early Management of Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke notes that neuroprotection has garnered renewed interest. Current knowledge gaps need to be addressed in future research.
In this study trial participants were patients who received stroke care at 32 centers in China. 998 adults, ages 18 to 80, were treated for 10 days with either a daily, intravenous infusion of 40 mg loberamisal for 10 days or a matched placebo, started within 48 hours of a moderate to severe stroke caused by a blocked vessel. All had a confirmed clogged brain-vessel stroke, and treatment began within 48 hours of when stroke symptoms began. Only about 17% of participants received standard IV clot-busting medication (for example, alteplase), limiting assessment of combined effects of both treatments. Patients who received surgical treatment for the blockage (mechanical thrombectomy) were excluded from the trial.
At 90 days after treatment, the analysis found: 69% of participants treated with loberamisal had excellent functional recovery (little to no disability) compared to about 56% in the placebo group. The treatment was considered safe because patients did not appear to have an increased risk of serious side effects or death compared to those in the placebo group.
Study limitations include that the trial was conducted only in China, therefore, the results cannot be directly translated to people living in other countries. “We want to confirm our findings with larger groups of people, including people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, patients with more severe strokes and those who also have had vascular surgery. We need to better understand how loberamisal works by studying biomarkers in multiple population groups,” Li said. Other limitations were that most patients in the study had moderate to severe strokes, which may affect applicability to people who have a more severe stroke. No blood or imaging biomarkers were assessed, which limits the applicability of the study’s understanding of how loberamisal affects the body.
According to the American Heart Association’s 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics, stroke is now the #4 leading cause of death in the U.S. Learn more at www.stroke.org.
