Project Overview

Stroke is a life threatening emergency caused by blocked arteries that affects 45,000 Canadians a year. Each hour a stroke is left untreated means brain cells are dying. The only emergency treatment we have is a clot busting agent that can re-open blocked arteries if given within 3-4.5 hours of the onset of stroke symptoms. Unfortunately only 5-11% of all Canadian stroke victims receive this treatment. If we could administer a treatment that could slow down or halt the damaging effects of stroke early after calling 911 it may improve outcomes. NA-1 is a drug developed by Canadian scientists which can be given to most stroke victims. This drug has been shown in the laboratory, in animals and in a small number of patients undergoing brain surgery, that it has the ability to reduce damage of a stroke and improve brain function. The FRONTIER trial is designed to identify stroke patients early after calling 911 and compare outcomes when paramedics randomly (toss of a coin) give either NA-1 or a salt solution called a placebo and transport the patient to the closest stroke centre. the team will follow the patients for up to 90 days after receiving the study drug to evaluate their brain function. In the past, over 200 promising agents have been tested without identifying any that could help in stroke. All of these were given in the emergency department hours after the stroke began. The team is hopeful that moving the drug into the hands of the paramedics will enable the drug effect to begin early and to provide the protection the brain needs to endure a stroke and minimize the brain damage.

Principal Investigator

Jim Christenson , University of British Columbia

Team Members

Oscar Benavente, University of British Columbia

William Dick, B.C. Emergency Health Services

Partners and Donors

St. Michaels Hospital

Canadian Stroke Network

Genome BC

Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health

University of British Columbia