Acousia Therapeutics GmbH to share key learnings and data from its lead candidate development programs — clinical stage ACOU085 and late preclinical stage ACOU082 — during four presentations at industry and research meetings from August 29 to September 5.
From August 29–31, Acousia Therapeutics has been invited to contribute two presentations at the 3rd Annual Inner Ear Disorders Therapeutics Summit in Boston (MA). “Key Factors in Preclinical Study Design for Enhancing Probability of Translational Success” and “Emerging Trends in Drug Development for Age-Related Hearing Loss” will both include learnings from the company’s outer hair cell targeting Kv7.4 activator development programs, which are in the clinical (ACOU085) and late preclinical stages (ACOU082). Dr. Jonas Dyhrfjeld-Johnsen, Chief Development Officer of Acousia Therapeutics, will also participate in the panel discussion “Understanding how the Differences in Chosen Animal Model and Human Hearing Development Impacts Preclinical Efficacy and Translational Success”.
On September 2, the company has been invited to present the talk “ACOU085 – Lessons Learned from Developing a Locally Administered Otoprotectant” at the 2023 Hearing Therapeutics Summit organized by the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), University College London Ear Institute, and National Institute for Health and Care Research in London.
Acousia Therapeutics, along with its partners from the Translational Hearing Research Group at the Tübingen Hearing Research Center (Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Tübingen), will then attend The 58th Inner Ear Biology Workshop & Symposium (IEB 2023) in London from September 3–5, where they will present data from the ACOU082 development program in the “ACOU082: A Systemically Administered Kv7.4 Activator Drug Candidate Uniquely Suited for the Treatment and Prevention of Age-Related Hearing Loss” presentation.
ACOU085 is a proprietary, small-molecule, etiology-agnostic otoprotective drug candidate. It recently completed a successful first-in-man clinical Phase 1b study using the standard transtympanic administration of a slow-release gel formulation. ACOU085 is expected to enter Phase 2a clinical testing for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced hearing loss and outer hair cell apoptosis in cancer patients by Q4 2023.
ACOU082 is a proprietary, small-molecule Kv7.4 developed for oral administration. It has the potential to both acutely enhance natural hearing and preserve hearing capacity for people with chronic, progressive disorders like e.g. age-related hearing loss.
Kv7.4 channels are strongly expressed in the sensory, outer hair cells of the cochlea, where they not only influence outer hair cell amplification and frequency discrimination to maintain hearing function, but also provide homeostatic resistance to deleterious insults, including e.g. drug-induced ototoxicity, noise exposure, and aging.