source: HearingExchange
http://www.prnewswire.com:80/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-21-2008/0004852150&EDATE=
Sound Pharmaceuticals Receives Additional DoD Funding for Its Hearing
Regeneration Product
SEATTLE, July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Sound Pharmaceuticals (SPI) has
received an R&D contract award from the ONR for approximately $1.6
million
to optimize its lead drug candidate for hearing regeneration. SPI has
developed a proprietary technology for regenerating auditory sensory
cells
within the inner ear of mammals involving p27Kip1, a cyclin dependent
kinase inhibitor or CKI. CKIs shut down cell division or proliferation
in
many developing cells and tissues and are often expressed in adult
organs
to maintain cellular quiescence or terminal differentiation. In the
hearing
organ of mammals (cochlea), p27Kip1 prevents cellular proliferation
and
regeneration. For this reason, sensorineural hearing loss is
irreversible
and often progressive. Once auditory hair cells are lost they are
never
replaced. In p27 knockout mice, auditory hair cell regeneration occurs
due
to the unique ability of sup****ting cells to re-enter the cell cycle,
proliferate and regenerate in to sup****ting cells and replacement hair
cells. In p27 wild type mice, this proliferative and regenerative
ability
is absent. SPI has developed this novel technology into a drug that
inhibits p27Kip1 in wild type cells and tissues, and is injecting that
drug
into the cochlea of deafened Guinea pigs. Results indicate that
renewed
sup****ting cell proliferation and hair cell regeneration occur in
animals
that have lost their hearing due to ototoxic or acoustic injury. In
some
animals, a return of auditory function has been observed. The ultimate
goal
of this work is to restore hearing to the severe to profoundly hearing
impaired or deaf, especially those with recent traumatic injuries.
This
novel regenerating strategy may be applied to other non regenerating
systems such as the brain or retina where p27Kip1 plays a similar
role.
In 2005, the Office of Naval Research began funding this hearing
regeneration project. This new funding brings the total level of
funding on
this specific p27 project to approximately $3 million.
Sound Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a privately held biopharmaceutical
company with a focus on developing the first drugs for hearing loss
and
brain injury. For more information please contact Jonathan Kil, MD,
President and CEO, 206-634-2559 or visit http://www.soundpharma.com.
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