Sep 30, 2021

Drug Discovery and Development September 30, 2021 Decibel Therapeutics (NSDQ:DBTX) has a working hypothesis that molecular characterization of the cell biology of the inner ear could pave the way for treatments for hearing and balance disorders. The Boston-based biotech company has announced that a recent study published in  Cell Reports  supports that hypothesis. “We were thrilled to leverage our data and expertise in inner ear biology to help fuel this analysis, which may help enable identification of therapeutics that counter the observed trends in gene expression that occur following noise exposure,” said Joe Burns, vice president, discovery at Decibel Therapeutics, in a statement. The company partnered with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the Karolinska Institute on the research. Decibel Therapeutics had its IPO on February 12. Its shares have since fallen from $18.03 apiece to $7.71 today. Other hearing-loss-focused pharmaceutical forms have also see wide declines. For instance, Otonomy (NSDQ:OTIC) has had its shares fall from $39.36 on March 13, 2015 to $1.92 today. Similarly, Lexington, Massachusetts–based Frequency Therapeutics has also seen its stock plunge from $55.01 on February 19 to $7.06 today. On March 23, Frequency Therapeutics (NSDQ:FREQ) announced that interim results indicated that its lead pipeline candidate FX-322 was ineffective at improving mild to moderately severe sensorineural hearing loss in a Phase 2a study compared to placebo. Earlier that month, the company said the drug seemed to lead to hearing improvements in adults with age-related hearing loss . Frequency Therapeutics recently announced that several subjects receiving FX-322 in a small open-label study showed statistically significant hearing improvement eight to 12 months after initial dosing.