Regenerative medicine for hearing loss makes quiet progress

While the late-stage programs for hearing loss are designed to protect cells in the inner ear, or help them recover from trauma, a growing number of early-stage therapies is aiming for a more dramatic outcome -- hearing restoration through regrowth of neurons and synapses that have died.

In 2017, only Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS; SIX:NOVN) had a therapy in the clinic designed to replace hair cells -- the neurons in the ear that detect sound. At the time, eight other companies had disclosed preclinical hearing regeneration programs (see “Ears Wide Open”)...