Drug being tested in London could be breakthrough in treating hearing loss

Researchers in London are trialling a new drug they hope will restore people's hearing
Peter Byrne/PA

London researchers are trialling a new drug they hope will be the first in the world to restore hearing.

The potential breakthrough could transform the lives of millions of people who rely on hearing aids or cochlear implants to overcome deafness.

The research is being led at University College London, and patients are being recruited to “phase two” trials to see if their hearing can be improved.

Phase one trials at the Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital last summer proved the drug was safe.

The drug, which aims to regenerate sensory hair cells in the inner ear, is administered via three weekly injections through the eardrum. There are currently no drugs to treat hearing loss. Professor Anne Schilder, of the UCL Ear Institute, who is leading the Regain trial, said: “We are the first trial worldwide of a regenerative drug for hearing loss.”

The drug was developed by Audion Therapeutics in the Netherlands and is being tested by the Regain trial consortium, which includes UCL and the Royal National. The trial is funded by £5 million from the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme — the type of investment that is now at risk from Brexit. One in six people in the UK, and about half a billion worldwide, have hearing loss. The trial will test the usefulness of the drug in 40 adults with mild to moderate adult-onset sensorineural hearing loss — damage to sensory hair cells in the cochlea. Patients will be recruited in London, Greece and Germany.

This type of hearing loss, responsible for 90 per cent of cases, can be caused by old age, by an adverse reaction to chemotherapy or antibiotics, or exposure to noise. Hair cell loss was previously thought to be irreversible, but studies in animals have shown they can be regenerated using a substance called a gamma-secretase inhibitor.

Hearing aids and cochlear implants work by amplifying the sound waves entering the ear but have no impact on underlying physical problems, and don’t work well in noisy environments.

Professor Schilder said research over the last decade had identified molecular and genetic reasons for hearing loss, creating new “targets” for drug therapies. She added: “Over the past decade, a lot of these mechanisms that lead to hearing loss have finally been unravelled and potential drugs for treatments have been discovered. That means we can now look at developing the drugs that can target these different types of inner ear hearing loss.”

The drug will not help children who are born deaf but wider advances in research could offer hope.

‘Specialists helped me reach full potential’

Lauren Press, 12, had surgery aged two and six to have cochlear implants fitted 
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A girl born profoundly deaf was today telling a City Hall conference how specialist help enabled her to reach her “full potential”.

Lauren Press, 12, had surgery aged two and six to have cochlear implants fitted. She went on to star in the CBBC TV show Rocket’s Island and has set up a mentoring scheme at her school to help younger children being bullied after being victimised herself.

Lauren, who lives near Mill Hill and whose mother Jacqui is also deaf, was invited to speak at the London Early Years conference. It is part of Mayor Sadiq Khan’s efforts to improve support for children with special educational needs and disabilities. Lauren said sessions at the charity Auditory Verbal UK had helped her to maximise the benefit from the implants by developing her listening and talking skills. She was due to say: “Cochlear implant technology is amazing and getting better all the time. But when it comes to maximising their capability, I can tell you it takes a lot of practice.

“I had years of audiology appointments, speech therapy and particularly the sessions at the charity, Auditory Verbal UK. This is where I was able to reach my full potential.”