Intravenous Thrombolysis Combined With Tirofiban in Acute Ischemic Stroke

December 22, 2025 updated by: Xiaochuan Huo, Beijing Anzhen Hospital

Intravenous Thrombolysis Combined With Tirofiban in Acute Ischemic Stroke: A Multicenter, Prospective, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Randomized Controlled Trial

This multicenter, prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial (ANGEL-DRUG2) aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravenous tirofiban following intravenous thrombolysis in patients with acute ischemic stroke who show insufficient neurological improvement after initial treatment. Eligible patients (≥18 years, baseline NIHSS ≥4, within 4.5 hours from last known well) will be randomized 1:1 to receive either tirofiban or placebo infusion for 24 hours, followed by standard oral antiplatelet therapy. The primary endpoint is the proportion of patients achieving functional independence (mRS 0-2) at 90 days. Secondary outcomes include changes in NIHSS score, vessel recanalization, infarct volume, distribution of mRS scores, recurrent stroke, and health-related quality of life. Safety outcomes focus on symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage and all-cause mortality. Approximately 976 patients will be enrolled across 30 sites in China.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) and endovascular therapy (EVT) are guideline-recommended treatments, but many patients continue to experience unsatisfactory neurological recovery after IVT alone. Early antiplatelet therapy is recommended as adjunctive management, and tirofiban, a selective and reversible intravenous glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor inhibitor, has shown promise in reducing platelet aggregation and thrombus formation without significantly increasing symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage. However, robust evidence regarding its efficacy and safety in AIS patients with poor neurological improvement after IVT is lacking.

ANGEL-DRUG2 is designed to fill this knowledge gap. This trial will enroll 976 patients at 30 centers who present with acute ischemic stroke, have received IVT within 4.5 hours of onset, and demonstrate poor or worsening neurological improvement within 1 hour post-IVT (defined as NIHSS score decrease <2 or increase ≥1). Patients will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio, stratified by center, to receive either tirofiban infusion (0.4 μg/kg/min for 30 minutes, then 0.1 μg/kg/min for 23.5 hours) or placebo (normal saline) infusion of the same regimen. Both groups will be transitioned at 20 hours to standard oral antiplatelet therapy (aspirin and/or clopidogrel).

The primary efficacy endpoint is the proportion of patients achieving a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 0-2 at 90±7 days. Secondary efficacy endpoints include NIHSS change at 36±12 hours, vessel recanalization on CTA/MRA, infarct volume, distribution of mRS scores at multiple timepoints, recurrent stroke within 90 days, and EQ-5D-5L quality-of-life scores. Safety endpoints include symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage within 48 hours (Heidelberg criteria), any intracranial hemorrhage, and all-cause mortality at 90 days.

This rigorously designed study will provide high-quality evidence regarding whether tirofiban, when added to IVT in AIS patients with poor early response, can improve functional outcomes without unacceptable safety risks.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
976

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • China
    • Beijing Municipality
      • Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China, 101118
        • Recruiting
        • Beijing Anzhen Hospital，Capital Medical University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Age ≥18 years.
  2. Pre-stroke modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 0-1.
  3. Acute ischemic stroke symptoms within 4.5 hours of last known well time.
  4. Baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score ≥4.
  5. Poor neurological improvement 1 hour after intravenous thrombolysis, defined as NIHSS decrease <2 points, or neurological worsening within 1 hour, defined as NIHSS increase ≥1 point.
  6. Not planned for or not eligible for endovascular treatment.
  7. Subject or legally authorized representative can provide written informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Evidence of intracranial hemorrhage on imaging before randomization.
  2. Non-ischemic intracranial pathologies, such as vascular malformation, aneurysm, tumor, abscess, or demyelinating disease.
  3. Large or medium vessel stenosis requiring thrombectomy or intra-arterial thrombolysis.
  4. Contraindications to tirofiban, including but not limited to:Known hypersensitivity to tirofiban; Severe hepatic dysfunction (ALT >2× ULN or AST >2× ULN); Severe renal dysfunction (serum creatinine >1.5× ULN); Advanced heart failure (NYHA class III-IV); Coagulation disorders or history of systemic bleeding; History of thrombocytopenia or neutropenia; Prior drug-induced hematologic disease or liver dysfunction; Leukopenia (<2×10^9/L) or platelet count <100×10^9/L.
  5. Use of tirofiban or other GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors before randomization, or planned use of such agents after randomization.
  6. Definite cardioembolic source, including but not limited to: chronic or paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, sick sinus syndrome, mitral stenosis, mechanical prosthetic heart valves, infective endocarditis, history of intracardiac thrombus, myocardial infarction within 3 months, dilated cardiomyopathy, spontaneous left atrial echo contrast, or left ventricular ejection fraction <30%.
  7. Pregnancy or lactation.
  8. Expected survival <6 months.
  9. Pre-existing neurological or psychiatric disorders that may interfere with outcome assessment.
  10. Unlikely to complete 90-day follow-up.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Quadruple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Arm A - Tirofiban
Drug: Tirofiban
After intravenous thrombolysis, if neurological improvement is insufficient (NIHSS score decrease <2 within 1 hour or NIHSS increase ≥1), tirofiban infusion is initiated within 1 hour. The regimen consists of 0.4 μg/kg/min for 30 minutes, followed by 0.1 μg/kg/min for 23.5 hours (total 24 hours). At the 20th hour of infusion, oral antiplatelet therapy (aspirin 100 mg once daily and/or clopidogrel 75 mg once daily) is initiated, overlapping with tirofiban for 4 hours (bridge therapy). At 24 hours, tirofiban infusion is completed, and patients continue oral antiplatelet therapy per protocol.
Placebo Comparator: Arm B - Placebo
Other: Placebo (0.9% normal saline)
Matched normal saline infusion using the same dosing schedule and pump rates as the tirofiban arm (0.4 μg/kg/min for 30 minutes, then 0.1 μg/kg/min for 23.5 hours; total 24 hours). At the 20th hour of infusion, oral antiplatelet therapy (aspirin 100 mg once daily and/or clopidogrel 75 mg once daily) is initiated, overlapping with placebo infusion for 4 hours (bridge therapy). At 24 hours, placebo infusion is completed, and patients continue oral antiplatelet therapy per protocol.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Proportion of patients with mRS 0-2 at 90 days
Time Frame: 90±7 days post-randomization
Proportion of patients with Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) 0-2, Modified Rankin Scale（0-6）, A lower MRS score indicates better functional status for the patient.
90±7 days post-randomization
Symptomatic Intracranial Hemorrhage (sICH) within 48 hours
Time Frame: Randomization to 48 hours
Heidelberg Bleeding Classification with clinical worsening criteria.
Randomization to 48 hours

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Vascular recanalization rate assessed by CT/MR angiography
Time Frame: 36±12 hours post-randomization
Vascular recanalization rate assessed by CT/MR angiography
36±12 hours post-randomization
Change in NIHSS from baseline to 36±12 hours
Time Frame: 36±12 hours post-randomization
Change in National Institute of Health stroke scale score from baseline.The NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score ranges from 0 to 42 points, with lower scores indicating better neurological function
36±12 hours post-randomization
Change in infarct volume at 7±3 days/discharge
Time Frame: 7±3 days post-randomization or discharge
Change in infarct volume
7±3 days post-randomization or discharge
mRS distribution
Time Frame: 7±3 days/discharge；90±7 days post-randomization
Modified Rankin Scale（0-6）, A lower MRS score indicates better functional status for the patient.
7±3 days/discharge；90±7 days post-randomization
Proportion with mRS 0-1 at 90 days
Time Frame: 90±7 days
Proportion of patients with Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) 0-1, Modified Rankin Scale（0-6）, A lower MRS score indicates better functional status for the patient.
90±7 days
Proportion with mRS 0-3 at 90 days
Time Frame: 90±7 days
Proportion of patients with Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) 0-3, Modified Rankin Scale（0-6）, A lower MRS score indicates better functional status for the patient
90±7 days
Stroke recurrence at 90 ± 7 days.
Time Frame: 90±7 days post-randomization
Stroke recurrence
90±7 days post-randomization
EQ-5D-5L score at 90±7 days
Time Frame: 90±7 days
The EuroQol 5-Dimension 5-Level Utility Score (EQ-5D-5L utility score) ranges from -0.594 to 1.000 (Chinese value set), assessing health-related quality of life, with higher scores indicating better health status.
90±7 days
Any Intracranial Hemorrhage within 48 hours
Time Frame: Randomization to 48 hours
Heidelberg Bleeding Classification with clinical worsening criteria.
Randomization to 48 hours
All-cause mortality at 90 days
Time Frame: 90±7 days post-randomization
All-cause mortality
90±7 days post-randomization

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Beijing Anzhen Hospital

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

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Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
November 11, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
October 30, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
August 29, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 17, 2025

First Posted (Estimated)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
December 18, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
December 23, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 22, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 2025-013

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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