Gene therapy for deafness

Jan 14 2015

Novartis is developing a gene therapy that may reverse hearing loss by stimulating the regrowth of microscopic air cells in the inner ear.

Many people have suffered exposure to lound noise eg in the music industry or the military.

Almost 13 per cent of children and adolescents under 19 in the United States have permanent damage caused by excessive exposure to noise, according to the Crenres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hearing damage can be caused by regular exposure to sound of 80 to 90 decibels. The auditory hair cells targeted by the Novartis drug are in the inner ear, where they convert vibrations caused by sound waves into electiceal signals that are passed along the auditory nerve to the brain.

Read the full article here

Follow-up 2016

Other companies like Decibel are focused on preventing or repairing damage to the inner ear trying to find solutions to common hearing disorders.

It seems the Novartis trials hit some issues.

Download our Hearing Aid Brochure