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RNID shine a spotlight on the hearing therapeutics landscape
In this blog, Melissa Hayman, Hearing Therapeutics Manager at RNID, BIA’s charity partner of the year introduces a blog series to be published over the coming months which will examine the hearing therapeutics landscape.
Globally hearing loss affects more than 1.5 billion people, carrying with it an estimated annual economic price tag of over US$ 980 billion. In the UK alone one in five adults are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus – that equates to 12 million people living with a sensory impairment that can have substantial impact upon quality-of-life measures.
Despite these startling figures national research expenditure on hearing loss remains relatively low compared to other disease areas and historically, treatment options have been limited to medical devices such as hearing aids and cochlear implants.
However, hope is on the horizon.
The hearing therapeutics landscape is experiencing a significant phase of rapid growth.
Ignited in 2023 by a world-first clinical trial to determine whether a gene therapy could be used to provide hearing for children with severe to profound hearing loss caused by mutations to the OTOF gene there have since been a wave of new innovations in the space. Encouragingly, the biotech industry seems to be paying close attention; Eli Lilly acquired Akouos in 2022 and Regeneron acquired Decibel Therapeutics just last year, both of which are companies focussing on gene therapies for hearing loss.
With multiple candidates targeting different causal mechanisms of hearing loss now entering clinical trials, there is good reason to believe that novel therapeutic agents to treat hearing loss may be available for some people by the end of the decade.
RNID fundamentally believe that it will take a cross-sector, multi-disciplinary, collaborative approach to R&D to bring groundbreaking new treatments such as these to the people who need them. To support these efforts, we have established our Hearing Therapeutics Initiative which aims to accelerate the development of new therapies to prevent and treat hearing loss and tinnitus. The Initiative does this by connecting innovators across the global hearing research ecosystem – from hearing researchers and clinicians, and funders and investors, to those working in biotech, pharma, and hearing device companies.
Want to find out more?
Over the coming months RNID, in partnership with the BIA, will be publishing a series of blogs aimed at exploring the burgeoning hearing therapeutics landscape through various sector lenses. We will hear from clinicians, academics and industry insiders who will give us their insights into where they believe the biggest opportunities and challenges lie in this field.
You can also join us for a BIA-RNID webinar on 12 June where we will lead a panel discussion focusing on 'Preparing for clinical trials in a novel therapeutic area'
To find out more about how our Hearing Therapeutics Initiative can help connect you to the expertise you need and to sign up as a network member head on over to the RNID website.