Prof. Thanos Tzounopoulos Receives $2 Million Grant

@attheedgeofscience also was among the few with permanent improvement from Trobalt, so it's certainly possible.

 

The clinical trials will be done within a year and a half. We are not ready to be saved.

 

I have high hopes for this man.

 

Here is how I understood it.

• When are clinical trials expected to start?

Probably in 1 to 1.5 years if everything goes as expected and no showstopper (i.e. drug is toxic) in the preclinical trial occurs.

• Is RL-81 also supposed to help pain hyperacusis?

In theory yes, since the channel opener calms these hyperactive neurons down and this should also benefit hyperacusis. In the clinical trial they will also have hyperacusis patients.

• Since RL-81 is a reformulation of Trobalt, what is done to prevent that it does not have the same side effects?

This drug was designed to limit the side effects of Trobalt.


I think pain hyperacusis is just the nasty little brother of tinnitus and what might help against either of them might help also against the other. This drug sounds promising but I think we will first get a shot of FX-322 before we can test if the redesigned Trobalt solves our auditory problems.

 

Research into tinnitus treatments is pretty much trial & error. We're not even certain what causes tinnitus. At least this drug is completely aimed at tinnitus, unlike most therapies whose main target is hearing loss.

I really hope so. Everyone who has experienced hyperacusis knows that it's a whole other demon compared to tinnitus - and I absolutely don't mean to downplay the effect tinnitus can have on someone.

 

I wasn't able to watch the whole presentation. It seemed to be more intended for Thanos (nice name, heh) to establish his credibility.

Did they say how much they expect this drug to improve symptoms? Is it too early to tell?

 

He is inevitable, or at least I hope he is

 

Really curious to see whether this will be beneficial for noxacusis. Based on this it suggests that this kind of drug could be helpful:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4664349/

Also wondering whether potential treatments for pain hyperacusis, if they're targeting the type 2 nerve fibers in the cochlea would be local delivery or would a general pill be effective?

 

It apparently works very well enough in rodents that they expect to move into clinical testing in humans in about a year and a half. His main concern seemed to be making sure it didn't have the side effects of Trobalt but they believe they can make it more selective and therefore both safer and more effective

 

The last sentence of the conclusion in the book "Hyperacusis and Disorders of Sound Intolerance: Clinical and Research Perspectives" 2018 from Marc Fagelson and David Baguley says in the last sentence of the conclusion:

Moreover, if the induction of auditory pain in hyperacusis is at the periphery, then the side effects of retigabine (and those of any other new drug) could be minimised if delivered locally through systems for drug administration to the inner ear and we might thus see some progress toward clinical trials in the not too distant future.

 

The clinical trials are taking place in a year and a half. When can we imagine the drug coming out? He tries it on rodents who have had tinnitus for less than 6 months. Will the medication be reserved for acute tinnitus?

 

Tinnitus is mentioned as a common side of Trobalt. But I assume that the drug works different in our "damaged" brain.

 

There is usually 3 phases for clinical testing. Maybe 6 years or more. Am I wrong?

 

Yeah I guess it also depends on whether they decide to apply for breakthrough status or fast-tracking.

 

I'd say 5-10 years, yeah. Which seems like a very long time, but if it's going to have similar benefits many reported having from Trobalt... I'd say it's worth it, no? Maybe that's just because I'm still young and would still have a lot of youth to enjoy in 10 years.

I have hopes this works for chronic cases too.

 

I did try Trobalt for 2 months with no positive effect on my tinnitus. Luckily I experienced no side effects either. I wonder if RL-81 is to be more potent than Trobalt, if not then I think only a few lucky ones may benefit from it. I don't put much of my hopes in it.

 

Yes. It's a long time. Probably we will have FX-322 available sooner. But it's good to have two alternatives. If FX-322 does not work.. you have the pill.

I hope it works for chronic cases too. I'm trying to be optimistic.

 

Exactly, we can't put our eggs in one basket.

If FX-322 fails us, there are still other regeneration projects being developed like Hough's pill. If all regeneration meds fail to silence our tinnitus, maybe this will help us.

Going from phase 1 to a full release can easily take 10 years. We have to be patient. The safety tests exist for a reason.

 

This is encouraging to hear - Paul Fuchs from Johns Hopkins seems to think pain hyperacusis is more likely peripheral.

I've also seen Liberman discussing the possibility of developing drug therapies to selectively block the type 2 nerve fibers.

There are also other companies working on new and improved versions of retigabine, mainly for epilepsy, e.g. Xenon Pharma. Wonder if these could also be beneficial.

 

Its a dark comedy...
So yesterday I went to the doctor... she, he told me to come back in 13 years and charged me 200 dollars for the consultation.

 

What phase is Xenon Pharma in at the moment?

With hyperacusis would we need to continue taking Retigabine everyday or would we only need to take it until it goes away?

 

Well...don't feel so sad. Most doctors don't know about these reasearch news.

 

Hang in there Daniel. Well make it through these dark times together. There are definitely brighter days ahead (hug).

 

Maybe the dosage was not sufficient. Do you know others who have taken Trobalt for tinnitus?

 

They have several products in their pipeline - the one that's furthest along is about to start Phase 3 trials.

https://www.xenon-pharma.com/product-pipeline/

It might be worth contacting them and asking whether they're looking into tinnitus (and hyperacusis) especially as one of their treatments is indicated for 'orphan neurological conditions'

 

Thanks HootOwl.
I am hanging with you and my tinnitus family. We will make it to brighter days.
Thanks for the support... it feels good.

 

I’m in Australia. How can I get in on this ?

 

It won’t be soon. They stated in a year or two they will start human clinical trials.

 

I can't recall the dosage. It was already like 3-4 years ago, but I followed Danny Boy's recommendation who was most experienced with it.

 

I agree, Prof. Thanos is reformulating Trobalt to reduce toxicity, Trobalt did not cure tinnitus, not even close.

Does he actually think he found the magic molecule to cure or reduce tinnitus for every patient?