[[{“type”:“media”,“view_mode”:“media_large”,“fid”:null,“attributes”:{“class”:“media-image alignright size-full wp-image-2569”,“typeof”:“foaf:Image”,“style”:“”,“width”:“100”,“height”:“100”,“alt”:“Valley News”}}]]This time of year, bats are generally used as inspiration for Halloween decor. But at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, they are also the inspiration for a drug trial.

DHMC is participating in a nationwide clinical trial of Desmoteplase, a drug modeled after a blood-clot-fighting protein found in bat saliva. It can be administered up to nine hours after an ischemic stroke, whereas the only similar drug currently on the market must be administered within three.

“There is a constant battle with time,” says DHMC Neurologist Richard Goddeau, and this new drug may give doctors an edge in that battle.

Read the full story, published by the Valley News on 10/29/11.