France drug trial: Brain-dead man dies in hospital

The man left brain-dead after an experimental drug trial in France has died. 

He was one of six people being treated in hospital in the city of Rennes. 

The hospital said the other five remained in a stable condition - four had neurological problems and the fifth had no symptoms. 

The Paris prosecutor has opened investigations. 

The trial, which involved taking the drug orally, was conducted by a private laboratory in Rennes. 

Ninety volunteers took the drug, manufactured by the Portuguese company Bial. 

Ten of the other 84 have been tested, but did not display any of the anomalies of those admitted. 

The chief neuroscientist at the hospital, Gilles Edan, said there is no known antidote to the drug.


BBC