Frequency Therapeutics — Hearing Loss Regeneration

[tommyd87]

Unsure how insurance works in NZ, but in the US, it seems that unless something is extremely expensive, they just cover it if a medical professional things you need it. I've never once had an insurance company disagree. Even with the hearing aids.

It obviously depends on your coverage level, however I have a feeling that Frequency Therapeutics hopes and also believes this is a medicine that makes it much more likely to be covered by insurance overall.

 

[serendipity1996]

That's why I hope that the ENTs I visit will be lenient towards me since I suffer from hyperacusis and if it ends up working for hyperacusis then it should also be covered under insurance as well.

I should hope so - especially if you visit your ENT and have it on file that your hyperacusis is having a significant negative effect on your life.

 

[Lucifer]

Unsure how insurance works in NZ, but in the US, it seems that unless something is extremely expensive, they just cover it if a medical professional things you need it. I've never once had an insurance company disagree. Even with the hearing aids.

I just had a look at my private insurance and with surgical treatments it's unlimited. If FX-322 is considered a surgical treatment then it should definitely be covered under my private insurance.

Would you classify FX-322 as a surgical treatment?

 

[FGG]

Unsure how insurance works in NZ, but in the US, it seems that unless something is extremely expensive, they just cover it if a medical professional things you need it. I've never once had an insurance company disagree. Even with the hearing aids.

In the Northeast this is generally the case, but in many Southern states, for instance, the plans just aren't as good.

 

[Born To Slay]

In the Northeast this is generally the case, but in many Southern states, for instance, the plans just aren't as good.

So in the south, insurance plans actually talk to your doctors about the treatment? They'd want to see an audiogram and shit?

 

[Shizune]

In the Northeast this is generally the case, but in many Southern states, for instance, the plans just aren't as good.

And to think I just moved away from the Northeast to the South.

I wouldn't even know where to start and I already was jumping through more hoops than I'd like living up there.

 

[FGG]

So in the south, insurance plans actually talk to your doctors about the treatment? They'd want to see an audiogram and shit?

I think it's more of a blanket "these are things that are not covered unless "x") but I have had both AETNA and BCBS and both have denied or modified care (as in you get half the PT that you need) that my doctors and other health care providers have recommended.

I had a deviated septum that 100% occluded one side of my nose and for years had to prop my head up at night to breath well while sleeping. Not covered but I found a doctor willing to do the surgery for $7000 so, back when I could afford that, I paid for 100% of it out of pocket, putting it on a credit card.

More recently, I had two rounds of caloric testing for vestibular problems and my first round was covered but my second one wasn't (even though my second opinion otologist ordered a repeat) because it was within a few months of the first.

Not counting my deviated septum surgery, I still owe about $9000 in medical bills (half of this is two ambulance visits to hospitalize me for an 8 hour and then a 48 hour rotational vertigo attack, of which 0% is covered by insurance). I have been fully insured the whole time and have never missed a payment.

I never seem to hear these kinds of stories from people in the Northeast though so I think the plans are just better or mandated to be better by law.

Anyway, this is probably a tangent for this thread...

 

[FGG]

I just had a look at my private insurance and with surgical treatments it's unlimited. If FX-322 is considered a surgical treatment then it should definitely be covered under my private insurance.

Would you classify FX-322 as a surgical treatment?

I would imagine it would be considered a treatment procedure but it's not surgery.

 

[Lucifer]

I would imagine it would be considered a treatment procedure but it's not surgery.

If that's the case then my insurance won't cover FX-322 unless they consider it to be a surgical procedure or they make an amendment in my insurance plan that treatments such as FX-322 are fully covered under insurance.

 

[Street Novelist]

Everyone is getting bogged down in the details. Frequency Therapeutics stand to make hundreds of millions of dollars. I am sure they will make it affordable to the common man/woman, especially since so many of them are in the military.

I am still more worried about it working 100% and when we will actually get to try it.

 

[Lucifer]

Everyone is getting bogged down in the details. Frequency Therapeutics stand to make hundreds of millions of dollars. I am sure they will make it affordable to the common man/woman, especially since so many of them are in the military.

I am still more worried about it working 100% and when we will actually get to try it.

You're right, we shouldn't even be worried about insurance claims now. As long as the drug is working 100% for tinnitus and hyperacusis, when we will get to try it is the most important thing right now.

 

[tommyd87]

Everyone is getting bogged down in the details. Frequency Therapeutics stand to make hundreds of millions of dollars. I am sure they will make it affordable to the common man/woman, especially since so many of them are in the military.

I am still more worried about it working 100% and when we will actually get to try it.

It will have to be affordable as at a price of just say $2,000-$3,000 there is no way that the majority of people in developing nations like India or Malaysia would actually be able to afford the treatment. Thus considering how big the market is in India (nearly 4xUS) I can't see them setting an exorbitant price there.

 

[ThomasRobert]

My feelings lately running away from insurance posts and looking for actual positive news...

 

[weab00]

My feelings lately running away from insurance posts and looking for actual positive news...

View attachment 42065

We're not going to get any real positive news till March.

 

[Michael01]

I am still more worried about it working 100% and when we will actually get to try it.

So if and when FX-322 is released, will I have to go through an ENT? Or could I just contact the drug company that they have the right to distribute with and ask them to sort if out for me, or at the very least, steer me in the right direction?

Very worried about consulting the wrong ENT, as the ones I've seen here in Australia don't seem to be interested in new and upcoming treatments at all, or informed either.

 

[Ricardo1991]

Very worried about consulting the wrong ENT, as the ones I've seen here in Australia don't seem to be interested in new and upcoming treatments at all, or informed either.

I think that's the recurring theme. It feels like even specialists would rather go the counselling route. Last night was incredibly painful for me, but when I explain this to the ENT they don't have much advice.

 

[FGG]

Very worried about consulting the wrong ENT, as the ones I've seen here in Australia don't seem to be interested in new and upcoming treatments at all, or informed either.

I think that's the recurring theme. It feels like even specialists would rather go the counselling route. Last night was incredibly painful for me, but when I explain this to the ENT they don't have much advice.

Not all ENTs know how to give intratympanic injections. Ones who treat a lot of Meniere's do and all ENT Otology subspecialists do. These tend to be the more treatment minded ENTs anyway and aren't the ones who would just send you to counseling.

 

[Gb3]

I think that's the recurring theme. It feels like even specialists would rather go the counselling route. Last night was incredibly painful for me, but when I explain this to the ENT they don't have much advice.

If you have hearing loss, this is going to be the standard of care if it works. I imagine they are going to have specialized clinics or departments staffed with ENTs who are familiar with the injection process. Once again this is a very simple procedure as stated by Frequency Therapeutics.

 

[Diesel]

All - Everyone posting concerns about ENTs not treating them with FX-322 needs to stop applying the current reality to a future state where the drug exists in the market.

If FX-322 continues to show positive outcomes for hearing loss in the clinical trials, the knowledge of it by ENTs will improve through media awareness, professional training/education, and patient awareness. Not to mention, this drug will be a cash cow for Frequency and the drug maker in the US. There will be commercials for it to raise awareness (see: Ocrevus, etc), considering the market is so substantial.

Some drug makers are so interested in getting the drug in you, they make websites available to point you to the doctors that can provide treatment. FX-322 will be no exception.

 

[twa]

My feelings lately running away from insurance posts and looking for actual positive news...

View attachment 42065

I remember how loud that movie was! That was a year ago.

 

[weab00]

All - Everyone posting concerns about ENTs not treating them with FX-322 needs to stop applying the current reality to a future state where the drug exists in the market.

If FX-322 continues to show positive outcomes for hearing loss in the clinical trials, the knowledge of it by ENTs will improve through media awareness, professional training/education, and patient awareness. Not to mention, this drug will be a cash cow for Frequency and the drug maker in the US. There will be commercials for it to raise awareness (see: Ocrevus, etc), considering the market is so substantial.

Some drug makers are so interested in getting the drug in you, they make websites available to point you to the doctors that can provide treatment. FX-322 will be no exception.

Ironically enough, I'm also concerned about the long waitlists once the drug starts getting lots of press. Is the drug easy to manufacture and distribute? I think that is mostly Astellas's end, right.

 

[twa]

So if and when FX-322 is released, will I have to go through an ENT? Or could I just contact the drug company that they have the right to distribute with and ask them to sort if out for me, or at the very least, steer me in the right direction?

Very worried about consulting the wrong ENT, as the ones I've seen here in Australia don't seem to be interested in new and upcoming treatments at all, or informed either.

Maybe a large university teaching hospital with an Otolaryngology department. I know the US is different, but we have large teaching hospitals funded by a university system. There are also large otology practices in metropolitan areas. Personally, I would look for a doctor who specializes in ears, an otologist as opposed to an ENT.

 

[twa]

Everyone is getting bogged down in the details. Frequency Therapeutics stand to make hundreds of millions of dollars. I am sure they will make it affordable to the common man/woman, especially since so many of them are in the military.

I am still more worried about it working 100% and when we will actually get to try it.

Yes! Let's get a viable, effective, safe treatment first and then work out the details.

 

[Gb3]

All - Everyone posting concerns about ENTs not treating them with FX-322 needs to stop applying the current reality to a future state where the drug exists in the market.

If FX-322 continues to show positive outcomes for hearing loss in the clinical trials, the knowledge of it by ENTs will improve through media awareness, professional training/education, and patient awareness. Not to mention, this drug will be a cash cow for Frequency and the drug maker in the US. There will be commercials for it to raise awareness (see: Ocrevus, etc), considering the market is so substantial.

Some drug makers are so interested in getting the drug in you, they make websites available to point you to the doctors that can provide treatment. FX-322 will be no exception.

I agree, these concerns are just not realistic.

 

[Diesel]

Ironically enough, I'm also concerned about the long waitlists once the drug starts getting lots of press. Is the drug easy to manufacture and distribute? I think that is mostly Astellas's end, right.

A waitlist would be a great problem to have. Half of the drug is Valproate Sodium, a common migraine treatment. It has been mass produced for decades, stores at room temperature.

The other is a proprietary small molecule.
That's all is known about the drug.

If the demand is projected as high, more $$$ is put into manufacturing at higher volumes.

Again, unrealistic concerns.

 

[Jack V]

So if and when FX-322 is released, will I have to go through an ENT? Or could I just contact the drug company that they have the right to distribute with and ask them to sort if out for me, or at the very least, steer me in the right direction?

Very worried about consulting the wrong ENT, as the ones I've seen here in Australia don't seem to be interested in new and upcoming treatments at all, or informed either.

A few thoughts...

If and when FX-322 is released:

1. Companies that produce medical treatments often include a "find a provider in your area" section on their website.

2. You could call ENT offices in your area to find one that provides it.

3. If your regular ENT doesn't provide it, you could ask for a referral to some place that does.

4. ENT's affiliated with university or teaching hospitals typically have access to the latest & greatest.

5. If FX-322 is approved and works as advertised, it will likely become a common procedure and easy to find.

 

[Jack V]

Ironically enough, I'm also concerned about the long waitlists once the drug starts getting lots of press. Is the drug easy to manufacture and distribute? I think that is mostly Astellas's end, right.

May I refer you to a graphic a wise person posted a few pages ago

 

[Diesel]

I'd like to point out that Frequency Therapeutics has been adding more marketing focused on Hearing In Noise, including today's Twitter post.

I find this interesting since the Phase 1/2 words-in-noise improvements weren't particularly compelling.

I wonder if they've seen more significant improvements from the long-term study patients, or already know they're going to see improvements in the upcoming Phase 2a assessment?

 

[FGG]

A few thoughts...

If and when FX-322 is released:

1. Companies that produce medical treatments often include a "find a provider in your area" section on their website.

2. You could call ENT offices in your area to find one that provides it.

3. If your regular ENT doesn't provide it, you could ask for a referral to some place that does.

4. ENT's affiliated with university or teaching hospitals typically have access to the latest & greatest.

5. If FX-322 is approved and works as advertised, it will likely become a common procedure and easy to find.

Agree with all of this but I would add that I think it's a good idea to be an established patient at a practice/doctor already used to intratympanic injections rather than rely on those who would get brief training with the release of a popular new intratympanic drugs because you would greatly minimizes the risk of ear drum complications.

If you already have a doctor like this, you would be waiting less time vs being a new patient.

Doctors who routinely and regularly give IT injections are: ENTs who treat a lot of Meniere's patients or all Otologists (these are ENT subspecialists for the unfamiliar).

 

[FGG]

I'd like to point out that Frequency Therapeutics has been adding more marketing focused on Hearing In Noise, including today's Twitter post.

I find this interesting since the Phase 1/2 words-in-noise improvements weren't particularly compelling.

I wonder if they've seen more significant improvements from the long-term study patients, or already know they're going to see improvements in the upcoming Phase 2a assessment?

Great find.

Possibly there are a lot more hearing in noise patients who have damaged IHCs rather than just synaptopathy than it seems (and neither would show up on an audiogram).