In news that disappointed both Wall Street and the medical community, the manufacturer of the drug NovoSeven announced that it will not be seeking regulatory approval as a treatment for hemorrhagic strokes. Novo Nordisk said its Phase 3 stroke trial showed that NovoSeven did significantly reduce bleeding in the brain, but did not improve mortality and severe disability after 90 days. NovoSeven is a naturally occurring clotting factor known as factor seven and is approved by the FDA for the treatment of hemophilia. (People with hemophilia lack certain clotting factors to stop bleeding.)

Fifteen percent of strokes are caused by cerebral hemorrhage; it is the type of stroke with the highest death rate. Approximately 40 to 45 percent of hemorrhagic stroke victims die within a month and only about 20 percent regain independent function in the first year after a hemorrhage. There is no FDA-approved treatment for cerebral hemorrhage. Current treatment is limited to surgically removing the blood after the hemorrhage has occurred.

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