Frequency Therapeutics — Hearing Loss Regeneration

[streeter1985]

Stop telling people how to think.

Sometimes you comment as a self-made scientist, sometimes you just want to confront people. If someone asks what he should do if this drug fails, I should not reply and tell him that there is many other research going on right now? What would your answer be? "The drug doesn't fail"? You completely glorify this company. I know the approach is great but calm down. Be nice and stay realistic.

No drug has a go yet and I really don't care which company/university/one-man-show will do it, as long as someone can cure it. I wish all of them the very best and they deserve the best life on earth humans can have.

That is a bizarre hope. My hope is that it works perfectly and restores us to a normal existence.

Sorry, but do you just tell me, that I don't hope that we all get cured? That's really bizarre! Your comment makes no sense at all, we both have tinnitus, you just threw in some strong words. I just see it from a different angle and that's legit - I can hope and wish for whatever I want. I know of other research on supporting cells and regeneration and they showed limitations concerning the individual situation of a patients inner ear and currently I don't see that the drug might work in this special cases. Like completely deaf people or huge damaged areas with a lack of supporting cells. I don't know what my inner ear looks like, I don't have a scan of my hair cells. So in my personal situation with huge damage/deaf in high frequencies, I really hope to get more information about the limitations and hope for competition to improve the drug to the highest possible level so that also people with hearing loss (not only hidden) can benefit from it at any level of damage.

You mentioned your BSc education like 10 times already and you as scientist should always question new ideas/approaches before they come from theory/laboratory to fact/market. At least that's what I learned at university to confront myself with questions but maybe that was part of the MSc.

 

[JohnAdams]

Sometimes you comment as a self-made scientist, sometimes you just want to confront people. If someone asks what he should do if this drug fails, I should not reply and tell him that there is many other research going on right now? What would your answer be? "The drug doesn't fail"? You completely glorify this company. I know the approach is great but calm down. Be nice and stay realistic.

No drug has a go yet and I really don't care which company/university/one-man-show will do it, as long as someone can cure it. I wish all of them the very best and they deserve the best life on earth humans can have.

Sorry, but do you just tell me, that I don't hope that we all get cured? That's really bizarre! Your comment makes no sense at all, we both have tinnitus, you just threw in some strong words. I just see it from a different angle and that's legit - I can hope and wish for whatever I want. I know of other research on supporting cells and regeneration and they showed limitations concerning the individual situation of a patients inner ear and currently I don't see that the drug might work in this special cases. Like completely deaf people or huge damaged areas with a lack of supporting cells. I don't know what my inner ear looks like, I don't have a scan of my hair cells. So in my personal situation with huge damage/deaf in high frequencies, I really hope to get more information about the limitations and hope for competition to improve the drug to the highest possible level so that also people with hearing loss (not only hidden) can benefit from it at any level of damage.

You mentioned your BSc education like 10 times already and you as scientist should always question new ideas/approaches before they come from theory/laboratory to fact/market. At least that's what I learned at university to confront myself with questions but maybe that was part of the MSc.

I'm not really a scientist although I do know quite a bit about the various sciences. I actually don't even have a career in anything I studied in university. I'm a self taught software engineer and that's what I do for a living. Look, maybe I did come on harshly, but I am very defensive of people downplaying this FX-322 drug because in America this is the best bet this far to release us from tinnitus hell. I'm actually not even waiting for this even though I have strong confidence in their method.

 

[d'Wooluf]

"The drug doesn't fail"? You completely glorify this company. I know the approach is great but calm down. Be nice and stay realistic.

Get with the program. Frequency Therapeutics requires our total commitment and belief to be successful. If we believe that there are other horses in the race, this is disloyalty, and will be punished by the pharma gods and we will suffer forever. (I don't know who you were replying to but I can guess).

 

[d'Wooluf]

Ever wonder how much working in hair cell regeneration research can earn you? At John Hopkins University the guy who runs the lab (BSc is the minimum qualification) can earn... $14 per hour. With that kind of money being thrown around you'd think they would have cracked it years ago.

https://www.ziprecruiter.com/c/John...more,MD?ojob=02c2dac02f93064e431cb71ab678e50c

 

[JohnAdams]

Get with the program. Frequency Therapeutics requires our total commitment and belief to be successful. If we believe that there are other horses in the race, this is disloyalty, and will be punished by the pharma gods and we will suffer forever. (I don't know who you were replying to but I can guess).

In America this is the closest thing to a potential cure. besides Audion Therapeutics, which is the same technology, what else is there? Besides, Audion Therapeutics is for the EU and unless I'm mistaken, hasn't even started American trials, just EU trials.

What Frequency Therapeutics is doing right now is the most important experiment in the history of tinnitus research that has ever been conducted, so go ahead and mock me for pointing this out.

 

[Tilts]

Ever wonder how much working in hair cell regeneration research can earn you? At John Hopkins University the guy who runs the lab (BSc is the minimum qualification) can earn... $14 per hour. With that kind of money being thrown around you'd think they would have cracked it years ago.

https://www.ziprecruiter.com/c/John...more,MD?ojob=02c2dac02f93064e431cb71ab678e50c

Unfortunately, that's pretty common for research technologists and research assistants. I just got my degree in biology and most laboratories, pharma or hospital labs, will pay around that if you just have a Bachelor's.

 

[GlennS]

As far as I understood this also happens in birds and fish

Quite some time ago I read an article on genes in birds that regenerate hair cells which we lack, or we lack the switch to enable it. This isn't it, but it's the same topic:

https://stanmed.stanford.edu/listening/scientists-hope-cure-hearing-loss-studying-birds.html

What I do know about the medical industrial complex is where there's a need, R&D is usually invested. The low figures being spent on this sort of research really baffle me considering how much money could be made. Imagine if related research could also cure baldness.

I'm not sure if it will happen soon enough to impact my own quality of life but if science progresses at its current rate then it seems like there will be a convergence point between gene therapy/stem cells and bionics.

 

[Pero1234]

Let's suppose both Audion and Frequency Therapeutics' approach works. But Audion beats them to the finish line.

How big are the chances that the FDA postpone their fast-track until Frequency Therapeutics is done with their trials?

The reason I'm asking is because Audion does not multiply your supporting cells first, making the procedure non-repeatable, as your supporting cells would deplete.

The idea that we may end up with the second best solution bugs me.

Or - and this would bug me even more - is the most likely scenario that we will end up with Audion's method in the EU and Frequency Therapeutics's method in the US?

If a nation invested in something that works, they will use it. No matter if it's inferior.

The example of PAL vs NTSC comes into mind for the analog generation.

 

[d'Wooluf]

It's quite mind-boggling, the priorities of government. Imagine the difference in the quality of life that a treatment for hearing loss would bring to a large swathe of the population. Imagine the savings in decreased rates of dementia and depression. Compare the money spent on research to that spent on the military. I know it's been said many times before, but still...

 

[JohnAdams]

It's quite mind-boggling, the priorities of government.

Obama spent $65,000 just to fly pizza and hotdogs from Chicago to Washington DC for a party. The waste is prolific.

 

[GlennS]

Obama spent $65,000 just to fly pizza and hotdogs from Chicago to Washington DC for a party. The waste is prolific.

Why does politics need to infuse itself into all online discourse?

 

[JohnAdams]

Why does politics need to infuse itself into all online discourse?

Well because politics drives government spending priorities. We, as people with diseases, need medical advancements that can be enhanced with government monies.

 

[RB2014]

In America this is the closest thing to a potential cure. besides Audion Therapeutics, which is the same technology, what else is there? Besides, Audion Therapeutics is for the EU and unless I'm mistaken, hasn't even started American trials, just EU trials.

What Frequency Therapeutics is doing right now is the most important experiment in the history of tinnitus research that has ever been conducted, so go ahead and mock me for pointing this out.

I want to get excited, but I started following this a long time ago. We have had a lot of ups and downs with news articles and "breakthroughs". Everyone got pretty excited about the GenVec trials and the thread went similar to this one. They are currently stalled and we still don't have a good grasp on what the results were and when we will get them.

Right now, we don't know where this is going to go and who it will benefit and how far it gets in the trials. I'm not trying to be a downer, but realistic.

So many things can happen between now and the third trial.

I'll remain cautiously optimistic this time and I hope that you are right, and in the mean time I'll keep rooting for this to work.

 

[JohnAdams]

I want to get excited, but I started following this a long time ago. We have had a lot of ups and downs with news articles and "breakthroughs". Everyone got pretty excited about the GenVec trials and the thread went similar to this one. They are currently stalled and we still don't have a good grasp on what the results were and when we will get them.

Right now, we don't know where this is going to go and who it will benefit and how far it gets in the trials. I'm not trying to be a downer, but realistic.

So many things can happen between now and the third trial.

I'll remain cautiously optimistic this time and I hope that you are right, and in the mean time I'll keep rooting for this to work.

I concede that is a healthy outlook to have. I just wish the government would dump a billion dollars on this project to help us sooner.

 

[Striveon]

Nobody cares about tinnitus sufferers. Everything is so slow. I'm desperate for a cure. I'm tired of tinnitus, I'm tired of going out and feeling fear of my surroundings and what might make tinnitus worse. I'm sick of hearing a stupid ringing that serves no good, it only imprisons a person. I'm sick how there's no rest with this crap, you have to cry it out but yet, no peace, you still have to hear it. I'm tired of feeling as I have to drag on day by day, life used to be so much easier going.

 

[Coleoptere]

The reason I'm asking is because Audion does not multiply your supporting cells first, making the procedure non-repeatable, as your supporting cells would deplete.

The unanswered question is: how many support cells does a human have? If we have a lot of them this depletion will not happen and the method will be repeatable. The method Audion uses is simular to the way birds and fishes regenerate their hearing. I do not know how many times they can do that during their life. For me one time will be enough....

 

[Pero1234]

The unanswered question is: how many support cells does a human have? If we have a lot of them this depletion will not happen and the method will be repeatable. The method Audion uses is simular to the way birds and fishes regenerate their hearing. I do not know how many times they can do that during their life. For me one time will be enough....

Audion's method may also avoid a possible risk when it comes to multiplying supporting cells. I know the gel they use is only supposed to have a temporary effect, but you never know.

Still, as Frequency Therapeutics makes it an important part of their treatment, I suspect we have a fairly limited supply.

All speculation of course!

 

[Philip83]

The unanswered question is: how many support cells does a human have? If we have a lot of them this depletion will not happen and the method will be repeatable. The method Audion uses is simular to the way birds and fishes regenerate their hearing. I do not know how many times they can do that during their life. For me one time will be enough....

Are there any information that the supporting cells will deplete? Does your supporting skin cells deplete? Or people who doesn't suffer from any hair loss - their hairs just keeps regrowing. Hopefully the hair cells in our ears wouldn't act any differently, and simply keep coming with the right chemical stimulation.

 

[d'Wooluf]

The method Audion uses is simular to the way birds and fishes regenerate their hearing.

I think birds do it both ways. Transdifferentiation (Audion Therapeutics) and mitosis (Frequency Therapeutics). See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17891722

 

[streeter1985]

Birds learn their species-related melody by DNA and by hearing the melody of their parents/species. I remember I read a study about a baby bird that got isolated and released after a while to learn the melody. I think the result was that the melody was not that perfect in details, but I can't tell which method they used to compare it to other birds born in the wild. Maybe just checking the soundwaves with some patterns.

Is there any research where they used noise to make the bird completely deaf at birth and checked later on after hair cell regeneration the quality of the melody? Don't know if that makes sense, but I would like to know if the melody has as much details as the birds that had no hair cell regeneration. I mean such a complex melody with high and low frequencies is more worth than just a PEEP in an audiogram and also gives answers about the quality of natural regeneration/distortion. I mean we can't ask the bird right? Sry just a thought experiment.

 

[RB2014]

I concede that is a healthy outlook to have. I just wish the government would dump a billion dollars on this project to help us sooner.

The same government that is going to shut down in about 2 weeks... You would think they would prioritize this a little more than they do now especially given all of the hearing related issues our soldiers have. I also hope they figure it out quicker than later.

 

[JohnAdams]

From: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03616223

FDA Clinical Trials Website for FX-322

"The study will (blah blah blah blah blah blah). Safety will be evaluated both systemically (lab and clinical monitoring) and locally (otoscopy and audiometry) in 24 subjects, and a blood PK profile of FX-322 will also be determined."

"Estimated Primary Completion Date : December 2018"
"Estimated Study Completion Date : December 2018"

 

[Benoves]

So audiometry is part of this study. Hope we get the results from that.

 

[Philip83]

From: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03616223

FDA Clinical Trials Website for FX-322

"The study will (blah blah blah blah blah blah). Safety will be evaluated both systemically (lab and clinical monitoring) and locally (otoscopy and audiometry) in 24 subjects, and a blood PK profile of FX-322 will also be determined."

"Estimated Primary Completion Date : December 2018"
"Estimated Study Completion Date : December 2018"

Are they testing for color-blindness as well?

 

[JohnAdams]

So audiometry is part of this study. Hope we get the results from that.

And very soon.

 

[Philip83]

So audiometry is part of this study. Hope we get the results from that.

What is audiometry?

 

[JohnAdams]

What is audiometry?

Hearing test.

 

[d'Wooluf]

@Philip83 Are you remembering to log off your computer when you leave the room?

 

[Deathtotinni]

There are many other companies/universities that work right now on the regeneration idea - turning supporting cells into hair cells. Frequency Therapeutics is not alone, there is already competition and it is great that more companies focus on the regeneration because by the end of the day the best drug cocktail in combination with the best delivery method will win the race. I hope the competition will also show us soon the limitations of this idea.

Don't focus on just one drug. It's just the beginning. What if it cures hearing loss but not tinnitus...too many open questions - everything is just speculation or works in theory. I know there is a lot of speculation going on in this thread try to filter out the real facts for yourself that's healthier.

Well if it doesn't cure tinnitus, MuteButton likely will, but I'm convinced this is going to cure tinnitus. Maybe not right away because the brain needs to adjust. They told me if my hearing got better so would tinnitus. Hearing aids are also really helpful for tinnitus.

 

[Street Novelist]

All of the press releases said they would disclose the results by the end of 2018. When I spoke to the guy running the trial in San Antonio, he said Frequency Therapeutics would post the results to its webpage in December. I hope we don't have to wait much longer.