Challenges Securing Tinnitus Research Funding without Networking or VC Access

[gonencaksu]

Do you have any idea where I could get funding for commercial tinnitus research? We need to run GLP toxicology tests as part of our IND package before moving to Phase 1 trials. Unfortunately, I have not been able to make connections with investors or founders. Networking events are too loud for my hyperacusis, and most pharmaceutical venture capital firms do not even open emails unless they come with introductions from trusted founders or friends. It feels like trying to fight with an injured leg.

 

[gracepixie]

What company are you with?

 

[gonencaksu]

I founded the company myself this March. We're working on bringing an ASIC1a blocker to market. It significantly reduced my own tinnitus, but I won't be able to continue taking it unless I get it approved for everyone. So here I am.

 

[momus]

I founded the company myself this March. We're working on bringing an ASIC1a blocker to market. It significantly reduced my own tinnitus, but I won't be able to continue taking it unless I get it approved for everyone.

You need at least one doctor, and likely more, as well as a proper certified facility to conduct trials with tinnitus patients. Then you need the patients themselves, along with the money to pay them for their participation.

Trust me, an individual or even a group of individuals cannot run clinical trials. I am amazed at how many people think that is enough to secure funding. You need a great deal of verifiable requirements in place before you could even begin. The original poster's personal experiences absolutely cannot be mixed in with the trial patients. And the list of requirements goes on and on.

 

[gonencaksu]

You need at least one doctor, and likely more, as well as a proper certified facility to conduct trials with tinnitus patients. Then you need the patients themselves, along with the money to pay them for their participation.

Trust me, an individual or even a group of individuals cannot run clinical trials. I am amazed at how many people think that is enough to secure funding. You need a great deal of verifiable requirements in place before you could even begin. The original poster's personal experiences absolutely cannot be mixed in with the trial patients. And the list of requirements goes on and on.

It's actually not like that anymore. We can now run decentralized trials without relying on traditional clinical sites. In most cases, having a single PI, an IRB, and a DSMB is more than enough.

I'm also against paying non-healthy participants, especially in CNS trials. Participants should never feel economic pressure to continue taking a drug, nor should financial incentives be the reason they choose to enroll in the first place.

That said, this isn't a concern for our tinnitus program right now, since it is still at the preclinical stage. Our next step is to run GLP-tox studies in mice. In any case, we are fully FDA and GCP compliant, which addresses all the concerns you raised and more.