The Company
OtoMedicine, Inc., is a new biopharmaceutical company, founded in 2006, to commercialize more than two decades of scientific research and technology developed in the laboratories of Dr. Josef Miller at the University of Michigan’s Kresge Hearing Research Institute. OtoMedicine’s mission is to become the leading provider of medicines to prevent, treat, and cure hearing loss. Its initial focus is to amplify, in a compelling manner, the evidence it has already gathered to demonstrate that a proprietary combination of compounds can dramatically reduce noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), one of the most prevalent disabling conditions in the industrialized world and for which there is no FDA-approved means of treatment. Called AuraquellTM, this specific combination of micronutrients has already been shown to provide significant synergistic protection against noise-induced injury in pre-clinical studies with animal subjects. In other words, the protection resulting from administration of the combination was greater than that following any of the ingredients individually. Based on the dramatic protection observed in pre-clinical studies, this formulation is expected to be a highly effective therapy for prevention of NIHL in humans.
In addition to prevention of NIHL, there are other potential markets for this technology that OtoMedicine will pursue. Evidence for free radical based mechanisms underlying the ototoxic effects of drugs and age suggests AuraquellTM will be effective in preventing these forms of hearing loss. While around 30% of all hearing loss is a consequence of noise exposure, age alone results in hearing loss in one-third of those who reach 60 years of age, and one-half of the population aged 85 or older. Use of antioxidant agents can prevent the hearing loss associated with certain anti-cancer agents, and local application of the antioxidants to the ear of chemotherapy patients will avoid systemic inhibition of the anti-cancer agents.
Growth factors and immunosuppressants will be developed for prevention and treatment of NIHL, again using local delivery to the ear to avoid possible side effects from these potent agents. These agents can be utilized to prevent auditory nerve degeneration or to regenerate damaged nerves. In combination with AuraquellTM, they may demonstrate enhanced preventive efficacy. These strategies to pharmaceutically tissue engineer the auditory nerve can also enhance the benefits of cochlear implants for the deaf. Development of these agents as second generation products will occur at a slower pace because of the greater regulatory requirements as compared to AuraquellTM. None the less, these novel technologies will underlie the future growth of OtoMedicine, propelling the company in its mission to eliminate hearing loss in the 21st century.
