As I wrote recently, Frequency Therapeutics’ drug candidate FX-322 is shaping up to potentially be the first biopharmaceutical treatment for hearing loss on the market some time in the next decade.
Now here’s an update: The company is currently in phase 2a of clinical trials, and they announced last week that they will report a 90-day analysis of the phase 2a study of FX-322 by late Q1 2021, according to their Associate Director of Digital and Corporate Communication, Suzanne Day.
While the promise of new data is already exciting news for those with hearing loss, there’s more to share: Frequency is expanding the potential reach of FX-322 to include two important groups. New studies have begun in patients with age-related hearing loss (ages 66 – 85) and those with severe sensorineural hearing loss. These studies will provide data on the potential of FX-322 for a far broader group of patients.
Severe Hearing Loss Group
According to a 2016 study published in the American Journal of Public Health, an estimated 6.6 million Americans (2.5 percent) of Americans 12 years and older have severe to profound hearing loss. As the description implies, this degree of hearing loss has a severe impact on a person’s quality of life. The Hearing Health Foundation states that without hearing aids or cochlear implants, speech isn’t understandable for those with a severe hearing loss. If anyone is in need of a hearing breakthrough, it’s this group!
“The severe population study will include patients with more dramatic loss in hearing function, and likely no functional hearing in certain parts of cochlea,” says Carl LeBel, PhD, Frequency’s Chief Development Officer. This group will likely include patients whose hearing loss results from a range of causes (noise-induced, sudden hearing loss, and ototoxic, for example). “Since all of these causes are associated with a loss of sensory hair cells, we are interested in evaluating how these subjects compare to less severe subjects in their response to FX-322,” Dr. LeBel says.
Age-Related Hearing Loss Group
The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders states that approximately one in three people in the United States between the ages of 65 and 74 has hearing loss, and nearly half of those older than 75 have difficulty hearing. There were over 54 million people aged 65 and over in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Needless to say, the age-related hearing loss group is quite large. So the potential for FX-322 to help them in their golden years is profound (pun intended!).
Although Frequency’s test group includes people who are between 66 and 85 years old, “This type of hearing loss is acquired and gradually worsens over time, and can begin as early as a person’s 30s or 40s,” LeBel says. “It is often thought of as resulting from a chronic low-grade exposure to noise over a lifetime, and not just as a result of aging.”
Signing Up for a Trial
If you or someone you know fits into one of these categories and is interested in participating in a clinical trial, check out this link for the age-related study. There are multiple testing sites across the United States. The severe hearing loss study has not yet begun, but you can keep an eye on clinicaltrials.gov for when this opens up.
More updates to come as they are available!
How do I apply to participate in studies?
Hi Jerald, thanks for your question. For the age-related hearing loss study, check out this link: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04601909
The severe hearing loss study has not yet begun, but that information will be available on https://clinicaltrials.gov when it does start. I’ve updated the article to make this clearer.