Patient declared brain dead after French drug trial dies

Five other participants in the trial, three of whom face brain damage, remain in hospital

Rennes University Hospital where a patient taking part in a drug trial has died. Photograph: Damien Meyer/ AFP/Getty Images
Rennes University Hospital where a patient taking part in a drug trial has died. Photograph: Damien Meyer/ AFP/Getty Images

A patient has died after taking part in an experimental drug trial and five other participants remain hospitalised, a French hospital has said.

The Rennes University Hospital said in a statement the patient, who had already been in a state of brain death, died on Sunday.

The statement says the hospital has contacted the 84 other volunteers exposed to the new painkiller, based on a natural brain compound similar to the active ingredient in marijuana.

Ten of those volunteers underwent medical exams on Saturday but the hospital found no anomalies, the statement says.

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French health authorities have said three of the hospitalised volunteers face possible brain damage. An investigation is under way into what happened.

PA