April 14, 2005 -- Stroke is the third leading cause of death and disability in the Western world. In the US, some 700,000 people suffer a stroke every year. More than half of them are first-time patients. Two-thirds of those survive the first year and go on to live an average of seven years. Four million are permanently disabled and need ongoing care. All in all, stroke costs the US more than $40 billion annually. Reading these numbers, one would expect that stroke would be a primary target for the pharma and biotech industry. Yet it is not. We look at the promising avenues of research and who is doing them...
