BMS-204352 is a fluoro-oxindole potassium channel opener being developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb as a potential neuroprotectant for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. Phase I trials were underway in Japan in 1998 [288541]. By July 1999, it was in phase II trials in the US [331682] and by October 2000, phase II trials had also begun in Japan [384751]. At the 219th American Chemical Society meeting in March 2000, it was reported that BMS-204352 had entered worldwide phase III trials involving patients with suspected acute stroke [362077], [361291]. In February 2001, Credit Suisse First Boston predicted sales of $111 million in 2005 [399484]. In February 1999, Lehman Brothers predicted the drug had a 30% probability of reaching market, with an estimated first launch date in 2004. The analysts predicted peak sales would occur in 2008, with sales of $500 million in the US at that time [319225].