Results of Phase III Clinical Trial: a Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Parallel Group Study of the Efficacy and Safety of Direkord in Ischemic Stroke Patients in Early Recovery Period

Abstract

Direkord is an original drug containing the active substance of dicholine succinate, which improves the sensitivity of insulin receptors in neurons to insulin. The aim of this work was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the drug in ischemic stroke patients in the early recovery period. In total, 160 patients after the first ischemic stroke in the carotid system, confirmed by computed or magnetic resonance imaging, with a stroke duration from 3 weeks to 2 months, mean age 63.2±8.4 years, were randomized into two treatment groups. The first group (n=80) received Direkord intramuscularly at a dose of 600 mg/day for two weeks; the second group (n=80) received a placebo. Treatment response was defined as an improvement in neurological status, functional status, and cognitive function of the patients: at least a two-fold decrease in the total NIHSS score, the total Barthel score ≥ 95, and the total MoCA score ≥ 26. The analysis of the primary endpoint of the study using exact Fisher’s test showed that Direkord was statistically significantly superior to the placebo (p=0.017) in the number of patients who responded to the therapy — 23.7 and 8.7% of patients in groups, respectively. The secondary end point analysis revealed a statistically significant superiority of Direkord over the placebo in reducing neurological deficits on the NIHSS scale (p=0.004), on the Rankin scale (p=0.0357), and on the CGI-I (p<0.001) and PGI-I (p<0.001) global clinical impression scales. Direkord has a good safety profile; thus, no statistically significant differences were found with the placebo in any of the safety parameters, including the number of adverse events, vital signs, laboratory parameters, and ECG. Overall, Direkord is statistically significantly more effective than placebo in recovering function and daily activities after ischemic stroke.