I Feel Like We've Lost Momentum

[Skulldrey]

2017 was the year we had more new drugs processed than any other year, but absolutely none relative to tinnitus. The last time I felt truly hopeful was when Dr. Thanos at UPitt announced their partnership with Allergan, but there's been literally nothing coming out of that so far. Not even a press release.

I just feel like we were getting this in front of people, pushing for awareness and change a lot more this time last year. Maybe I'm wrong, but just being honest with my feelings here.

 

[Autumnly]

I'm sorry you're feeling this way! Following research regarding hearing loss and tinnitus can be frustrating at times... For me, it's actually the opposite, I feel very optimistic about the upcoming years. That doesn't mean I think a cure is just around the corner, but I believe there could be a new treatment in the next 10 years.

Affichem posted a new video and showed their potential development strategy for the next five years.
Frequency Therapeutics announced the successful completion of the first-in-human study of FX-322, Phase 2 trials are supposed to begin in 2018.
Otonomy stated they'll begin with trials for OTO-313 and OTO-413 in 2019, and with trials for OTO-6XX in 2018.
Xenon has initiated a Phase 1 first-in-human clinical trial for XEN-1101 and anticipates that XEN1101 could be in Phase 2 development by the end of this year.
Decibel Therapeutics and Regeneron announced their collaboration to discover and develop therapeutics for hearing loss and tinnitus.
Hough Ear Institute is working on inner ear hair cell regeneration and restoring the connection between the auditory nerve and the hair cells.
University of Michigan researchers have developed a device that could treat somatic tinnitus.
The British Tinnitus Association, alongside the Tinnitus Research Initiative, Tinnitus Hub and the American Tinnitus Association, is trying to raise awareness of tinnitus with its Tinnitus Week project in February.

And there are even more companies working on treatment options for hearing loss and tinnitus. I think the next five years will be very interesting. I could even imagine just the next two years to bring more important research developments and updates.

 

[Rubenslash]

I feel the opposite tbh

 

[Michael Leigh]

2017 was the year we had more new drugs processed than any other year, but absolutely none relative to tinnitus. The last time I felt truly hopeful was when Dr. Thanos at UPitt announced their partnership with Allergan, but there's been literally nothing coming out of that so far. Not even a press release.

I just feel like we were getting this in front of people, pushing for awareness and change a lot more this time last year. Maybe I'm wrong, but just being honest with my feelings here.

Tinnitus has been around for thousands of years and contrary to what some believe, I think there has been significant progress in tinnitus treatment to help people to have a better quality of life. This does depend on whether one is able to access these treatments. Tinnitus is just one of many medical conditions at the moment that cannot be cured but in many cases, like other ailments, it can be treated.

Michael

 

[PaulBe]

We had momentum?

 

[PaulBe]

This does depend on whether one is able to access these treatments.

This, is where momentum is needed.

 

[attheedgeofscience]

I just feel like we were getting this in front of people, pushing for awareness and change a lot more this time last year. Maybe I'm wrong, but just being honest with my feelings here.

I still think there are important events to be excited about – both short & long term. The pharma entities that have so far conducted clinical trials now have pretty robust knowledge on how to run a clinical investigation in a rigorous manner. Dealing with a subjective condition is not exactly easy when having to measure the outcome of a drug or intervention. But the knowledge is essential to adequately conduct clinical trials in the future. I have attended at least a dozen conference calls with pharma companies in the past 18 months and it is clear that there is an underlying sense that the medical regulatory agencies are "nervous" about the unmet needs of tinnitus and hearing loss (500 million people around the world are believed to suffer from "disabling hearing loss").

In the short term, we shall pretty soon hear more about the Frontiers Spotlight Award (already in a couple of months time). Relying on my backbone knowledge (i.e. from memory), I am 99% sure that the topic on tinnitus heterogeneity will automatically become a finalist and is in a good place to also win the prize. You can see the timeline here:

URL: www.spotlightaward.frontiersin.org/participate