Interview with Decibel Therapeutics' New CEO

https://www.statnews.com/2016/07/13/hearing-loss-decibel-steven-holtzman

 

Thank you.

The man seems to understand there's a huge market for his company but only because there's a real medical need.

Ototoxicity is a major issue so that's good to read about it.

 

Ototoxicity?
i dont understand, they are gonna try to fix others medicaments ototoxicity damage?

 

I think the key for them is to find something to protect the inner ear from otoxicity. Not to fix the damage afterwards.

 

This is somewhat disappointing. At least for us that are already screwed so to say...

 

Yes, but don't forget they will also work on noise induced hearing loss and T.

We can still use a protection against ototoxicity to avoid further damage. The day you HAVE to take an ototoxic drug, that will be a relief.

 

Yes, amen to everything that you said!

 

If they worked on regeneration that would be useful in ototoxic drugs as well. Instead of protection you would be able to restore your hearing after having to take an ototoxic drug. So I would still much rather see them follow that path than this.

 

Yes I agree. Why though would they have decided to "go after" the ototoxic prevention route?
Perhaps they expect results sooner?
Is my assumption correct that regeneration is more difficult than preventing ototoxic damage in the inner ear?

 

I guess so. It would be wise for them to focus right now on drugs that have a chance to work quite soon. Then they can go on.

Anyway, I don't think regeneration will give you back a perfect inner ear, at least not before long. Avoiding damage in the first place is always better.

The marketing efforts of those companies will be huge. And that's good for us ! People will know about what they do, about our problems. This will attract money and raise awareness in the medical and business worlds.

 

I don't much care about getting back a perfect inner ear. Just make the noise go away!

 

I thought Decibel Therapeutics was working with neurotrophins?

 

That's a good point but as a business they will choose the more sure fire way to see return on investment. Finding a drug that protects the ears is easier than solving the holy grail of hearing loss and Tinnitus, at least as their first project. So many people taking drugs that are ototoxic means if Decible can find a Oto-protective medication they know that every single person taking ototoxic drugs will then also be taking Decibles Oto-protective med and that means serious cash so they for sure have a return on the $52million, if we get to this point then they will move on to address H and T.

 

I know all that. It's still disappointing.

 

I thought so too, they were about to investigate further in hidden hearing loss and cochlear synaptopathy treatment that Liberaman is working on. That's also what Liberman confirmed to me by email is a field of their research.

 

So it looks like Decibel may have been focused on a move over the past months so that may have gotten in the way of information dissemination. I'm also hoping that they've gained enough insight in their DNA analyses and done some testing so that they have some gene therapy they can announce will be in trial in late 2018. But that is just my hope and I don't know if they have done enough yet to do a trial in the winter of 2018.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...peutics-Open-Headquarters-Laboratories-Fenway

https://www.benzinga.com/pressrelea...nts-at-2017-annual-association-for-research-i

 

I have emailed Decibel, their response:

Thank you for reaching out and I apologize for not getting back to you sooner (I was out of the office all last week). I wouldn't say we are in stealth mode--we published our data, do press releases, etc.--but you are right that I can't say much about what we're doing. What I can tell you is that we are investigating a wide variety of types of hearing loss and using a number of different approaches to attack these types of hearing loss. I can't give you a timeline, but we are prompt with announcing results, trials, and publications. I invite you to follow us on Twitter (handle: @DecibelTx) to keep up with the latest.

Best,
Bryan Holtzman

 

@DoNotGoGentle That's great that the CEO emailed you back! I would say they are in stealth mode since they won't say much about their research. Either that or no positive results to report yet. :/ However the fact that Decibel's been able to attract so much money may indicate that they've experienced some success with their approach.

 

if they can solve the problem of ototoxic medications creating issues for tinnitus patients, then I would be beyond happy.

A few times now I have had major spikes because of those medications and because I did not know they where ototoxic. So to have something to prevent further damage would already be a HUGE relief and blessing.

 

I guess the key is to go on with our lives as best as we can and prevent further damage until they come up with treatment. Not fun but what's the alternative?

 

Google just bought into Decibel Therapeutics.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...s-Announces-Investment-GV-Expand-Capabilities

 

Wow, totally unexpected. Cool news!

 

The race is on between Frequency and Decibel! Competition is good and pushes everyone ahead.

 

Great news!

 

Fingers crossed for a cure... or treatment... hoping... praying...

 

If it's a race, it's a very unconventional one. Decibel are not at the starting blocks yet, in terms of a clinical trial for any kind of treatment. They have seemingly a very long term view. Frequency is into a Phase one this year. It's more of a one horse race at the moment, for those of us looking at the near term.

 

I disagree, the fact that they are disclosing less information than Frequency does not necessarily mean they are behind. Do you have an objective source with evidence that Decibel is not keeping up?

Frequency is not into phase 1 this year, should be next year. The trial in Australia is not phase 1 for their product.

 

@DoNotGoGentle emailed Bryan Holtzman (Decibel CEO), and this was his response:

They seem to be building up the science behind treating hearing loss and inner ear regeneration. Note that Bryan didn't mention any drug candidates, much less plans for clinical trials. Frequency alread has FX-322 and arrangements for pre-clinical trials, so they seem to be ahead.

It's true that competition benefits us, and I understand the desire to see something in the market soon, but I don't think we should see it as a race. What gets me the most excited about Decibel is that they seem to be digging deep on the intricacies of restoring the inner ear, building the knowledge and gathering information to seek out the best approaches for treatment. This kind of detailed investigation benefits everyone. Decibel may be moving at a slower pace, but I'd say it's worth it.

 

Decibel's initial focus is different to Frequency, in terms of what kind of treatment they wish to market first. As I said, they seem to have a longer term view, with regard to other aspects of auditory system repair. I didn't suggest that they were necessarily 'behind' in their knowledge base. Steven Holtzman wants to start first with prevention of ototoxicity, according to his interview responses:

What are some indications Decibel is chasing?
Initially, we’re looking at ototoxicity as a targeted market.

https://www.statnews.com/2016/07/13/hearing-loss-decibel-steven-holtzman/

Frequency's safety study in Melbourne was referred to as Phase one in the trial registration description.

Phase
Phase 1
Type of endpoint(s)
Safety

https://anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=372587

 

I hope decibel is looking to fix hidden hearing loss. Although, I heard mass ear and eye is going to do clinical studies on cochlear synapathy.

If we are able to regenerate inner ear haircells as well as fix damage to the synapses then I imagine we've covered all bases in the inner ear.