@Brian Newman, I emailed a little back and forth with Ashley Everett of Hough Ear Institute mentioning this thread and that some here are suspicious about Hough Ear Institute's intentions. I also mentioned you Brian and that you seem to have a really hard time (I have a hard time myself suffering large parts of the day, but you definitely seem worse).
She informed me a bit about the current status of their projects etc. I think it's easier if I simply post Ashley's response here:
"I'm sorry that's the vibe on Tinnitus Talk, but it's best for us to stay away from it. We are a very small institute and if I took time to respond to every comment about HEI online (even just the upset ones) that would be all I do. I know Justin spent time on it, but that's not our policy moving forward. There are a lot of misconceptions that just cannot be cleared up in a social media situation (especially if it's not what people want to hear) without vitriol. It's unfortunate, but it seems to be human nature on the internet.
I can sympathize with this Brian Newman fellow because I have tinnitus, too, and it affects my sleep and ability to hear in crowded spaces. I can't even imagine how infuriating and even painful it is to have debilitating tinnitus and understandably, he is very frustrated. It's people like him – real people who are hurting – who motivate us to find solutions. Grace upon grace for him and anyone else who is upset. I would hope they would also remember HEI is run by actual humans trying their very best to get a treatment for tinnitus to market and offer hope where we can. This isn't just "Hough Ear Institute," it's Matt, Ashley, Weihua, Don, Pam, Richard, Jianzhong, Agnes, etc. We are real people with a passion to bring relief to those who need it.
I will, however, give you a rundown of what he has incorrectly assumed and empower you to respond if you so choose: AOK-1 is our hearing regeneration therapeutic, not NHPN-1010. AOK-1 is licensed by Boehringer Ingelheim and we are working on an IND for submission into Phase I clinical trials as we speak. AOK-1 is also an injection, not a pill. AOK-1 addresses lost/damaged cochlear hair cells through regeneration... which we have successfully done in adult mammals. A photo of one of our regenerated hair cell bundles appeared on the cover of Molecular Therapy (attached is the image of that cover) which was the catalyst for BI licensing it.
NHPN-1010 is a pill and is a nerve repairing, hearing protectant that can address hearing loss due to nerve damage and tinnitus. This is not a hearing restoration therapeutic, but it can restore hearing if only the ribbon synapses are damaged, not the cochlear hair cells.
HEI takes private donations for preclinical work not covered by pharmaceutical companies during clinical development (clinical trials/human testing). Once we license our technology for clinical trials, the timeline is in the hands of the company who licensed it, not us. It is also their prerogative whether or not to offer it for expanded access through the FDA and/or approve supplying it to each individual patient wanting it. It's not HEI denying anyone access to NHPN-1010. It's in our best interest to get it to more people, not less! We want it in clinical trials yesterday, but as explained in my last email, that kind of budget is not feasible for us. If he would like to reach out to Elaine Hamm at Otologic Pharmaceutics, Inc. she can explain the licensing process in more detail and how it works for NHPN-1010 specifically. That's her area of expertise."