Frequency Therapeutics — Hearing Loss Regeneration

[Canadaman]

It wouldn't be a great idea to buy stock in Frequency. Not because it's a bad company, but because you're already somewhat invested in the outcome and it's always better to diversify.

It'd suck to lose hope for this treatment AND your money at the same time. Spread your bets.

 

[Benoves]

I think if they Can regenerate only a small couple of hair cells/hearing improvement they gonna develop it further. Because they could make a LOT of money. Maybe some others will speed up their approaches then. If they can (partial) supress tinnitus too the market will be even bigger. Nothing to worry about. Hope they succeed, If not they probably learned a lot.

 

[Berik]

It wouldn't be a great idea to buy stock in Frequency. Not because it's a bad company, but because you're already somewhat invested in the outcome and it's always better to diversify.
It'd suck to lose hope for this treatment AND your money at the same time. Spread your bets.

Totally agree.
Interesting read:
https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/...artup-ceo-david-lucchino-to-helm-massbio.html

His previous company, Semprus, was sold to Teleflex for 80 (30 upfront, 50 on milestones) Mil, with a promising technology for coating implants. In 2014 (https://www.mddionline.com/teleflex-admits-trouble-sustain-coating) it seems Teleflex had to do an impairment because it didn't work as expected/desired, affecting future cash flows.

 

[jeff W]

Biotech companies like this are high risk but when they pay, they pay. If this company is successful, it would be well worth buying stock in it (if it goes plc) . But look at Auris medicals stock, their shares have plummeted and I was interested in buying them a couple years ago - good job I never

Case in point: voyager therapeutics,
I sold at 19 after becoming impatient. It was a mistake. All these companies will help the public accept new technology smoothly through media conditioning it's a good thing.

 

[bell]

Brief update of the company next week in Boston , phase 2 will start later this year I had some hope it would be earlier ...

https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/...eases/Massachusetts/2018/03/06/20180306005531

 

[BohemianLife]

Brief update of the company next week in Boston , phase 2 will start later this year I had some hope it would be earlier ...

https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/...eases/Massachusetts/2018/03/06/20180306005531

Does "later this year" mean end of the year or any time in this year ? I searched it on internet and it seems like any time in this year.

 

[grate_biff]

Does "later this year" mean end of the year or any time in this year ? I searched it on internet and it seems like any time in this year.

I think they have said early fall, whatever that means.
Probably september?

 

[Andrei90]

I think they have said early fall, whatever that means.
Probably september?

I think their first trial finishes in a few months. I hope they don't take that long setting up the second. The growth should be quick so we could get results soon after.

 

[grate_biff]

I think their first trial finishes in a few months

Phase 1 was completed in december 2017!

 

[Andrei90]

Phase 1 was completed in december 2017!

I read it wrong. You are correct. The actual trial finished already. It's in the study phase now. I hope they finish quick and move on.

 

[Rajin]

How will this work if approved. Is it going be a injection in the ears ,tablets or a big ears operation?

 

[Andrei90]

How will this work if approved. Is it going be a injection in the ears ,tablets or a big ears operation?

Quick injection procedure that lasts a few minutes. I think it will probably go behind the ear. Hope it's not too painful. But then again, many here would overlook this if it helped them significantly.

 

[Rajin]

You right about that, I would not care about the few minutes pain also , so I feel is everyone here. Thanks !

 

[john paul]

The time to buy stock in FT is if they announce phase 3 and get the funding. Funding a phase 3 trial is expensive, and it most likely wouldn't get funded unless they were pretty god dam sure they could provide the goods.

 

[grate_biff]

I think it will probably go behind the ear

Intra tympanic injection! Through the eardrum into the middle ear!

 

[Steven__]

I think they have said early fall, whatever that means.
Probably september?

Yeah like around August/September from what this article says which is from March 10th 2017 https://hsci.harvard.edu/news/progress-toward-treatment-hearing-loss

 

[Spiral]

Intra tympanic injection! Through the eardrum into the middle ear!

I think they need to simultaneously figure out a better way to administer the drug. This can't be the only effective way. I read of a magnetic method a while back. This compiled with the synapse / ribbon repair with an inner ear imaging device for tweaking would effectively restore much hearing back.

 

[Flamingo1]

Intra tympanic injection! Through the eardrum into the middle ear!

Ouch!

 

[grate_biff]

Ouch!

Nah. Just go to your "Happy Place" and it will soon be over

 

[Canadaman]

I had intra-tympanic injection, it doesn't hurt in the slightest.As far as I could tell there is no feeling in the eardrum itself; it's like cutting nails or hair.

There's advanced ways of making the hole now using lasers, too, apparently. It heals faster.

Intratympanic injection is fine.

And heck, to cure tinnitus/hearing loss I'd take an injection anywhere with any needle...

 

[Berik]

The time to buy stock in FT is if they announce phase 3 and get the funding. Funding a phase 3 trial is expensive, and it most likely wouldn't get funded unless they were pretty god dam sure they could provide the goods.

First they'll have to do an IPO and, I think, this won't happen since they already secured quite some funding. Phase 1-3 trials cost around 40Mil. They already have such funding in place, so wouldn't expect an IPO any time soon.

 

[Shaneo]

My fingers are crossed. As someone who's hearing is decreasing every year (which increases tinnitus and stress), knowing that there could be a cure to begin reversing the hearing loss would literally be a life altering event.

The company that provides a cure first will reap the financial rewards. You can only hope that the hearing aid and cochlear implant companies don't try to cause any delay or road block for such a cure, as it would be a huge financial dent in their economy.

Makes you wonder what the cost of potential treatment would be?

 

[PolishSoldier87]

I think it would cost much less than cochlear implants.

 

[Contrast]

The company that provides a cure first will reap the financial rewards. You can only hope that the hearing aid and cochlear implant companies don't try to cause any delay or road block for such a cure, as it would be a huge financial dent in their economy.

This.

I worry because of this.

 

[Berik]

This.

I worry because of this.

http://www.frequencytx.com/news-events/news-events-press-release-02-15-2018.php

You think US Army would let that happen?

 

[swc5150]

This.

I worry because of this.

This sort of worry comes up a lot on this site. There's no chance HA makers can stop this...just like buggy whip makers couldn't stop Henry Ford. Or more recent, the eye glass industry could not stop lasik.

 

[Andrei90]

I have a question about how the drug will work. After doing more reading, I found that it promotes cell division on top of its specific goal of creating hearing cells (more support cells?). Is it not possible that this could then work as multiple treatments? Say you have 80% hearing loss and only get a 20% improvement. Could you go back and get more improvement (take advantage of extra support cells) and continue till you have near perfect hearing? I'm sorry if this was asked before. I didn't find anything on the search function.

 

[Aaron123]

Here's a short essay by Will McLean: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/359/6380/1113.3.full.pdf He does say "Since publishing proof-of-concept results to regenerate hair cells in damaged tissue (7), recent experiments have shown that local treatment to the ear can elicit a functional hearing improvement in animals with hearing loss." I'm still hoping we see these results in a paper soon. I would be interested to know how big of a functional improvement they have seen.

 

[Contrast]

I have a question about how the drug will work. After doing more reading, I found that it promotes cell division on top of its specific goal of creating hearing cells (more support cells?). Is it not possible that this could then work as multiple treatments? Say you have 80% hearing loss and only get a 20% improvement. Could you go back and get more improvement (take advantage of extra support cells) and continue till you have near perfect hearing? I'm sorry if this was asked before. I didn't find anything on the search function.

Theres more to hearing then just hair cells. The auditory nerve fibers are still damaged.

 

[Aaron123]

I have a question about how the drug will work. After doing more reading, I found that it promotes cell division on top of its specific goal of creating hearing cells (more support cells?). Is it not possible that this could then work as multiple treatments? Say you have 80% hearing loss and only get a 20% improvement. Could you go back and get more improvement (take advantage of extra support cells) and continue till you have near perfect hearing? I'm sorry if this was asked before. I didn't find anything on the search function.

The short answer is no one here knows. That said, it seems as though their approach should work as long as there are Lgr5+ supporting cells. In your example, the outcome would likely depend on why there was only a 20% gain in the first place. It could be that additional rounds could improve things or it could be that there is other damage that cannot be fixed by this approach. Again, however, this is all speculation since we have only seen one paper at this point.