Lady Gaga at High Volume Drives Hearing-Loss Drug Search: Health

Drugmakers have a slew of treatments for afflictions related to sex and drugs. Now they may have one for rock n roll.

Novartis AG (NOVN) is developing a gene therapy that may reverse hearing loss by stimulating the regrowth of microscopic hair cells in the inner ear, allowing people to hear. The hairs are destroyed by prolonged exposure to loud noise, and dont take root again naturally. Novartis treated the first patient in October after successful tests on rats.

While hearing loss is most common in the elderly, rates are high in the music industry and the military, and rising among teenagers who listen to music at high volume. Almost 13 percent of children and adolescents under 19 in the U.S. have permanent damage caused by excessive exposure to noise, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A little too much Lady Gaga, said Mark Fishman, the head of Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, which is developing the therapy. About 36 million people in the U.S. have some form of hearing loss, according to the Basel, Switzerland-based company.

A solution could mean big money for Novartis and GenVec Inc. (GNVC), its partner in developing the drug. Global sales of hearing aids and cochlear implants may reach a combined $9.5 billion globally by 2020, according to San Francisco-based Grand View Research, which provides information on industries including technology and health care.

Global sales of hearing aids and cochlear implants may reach a combined $9.5 billion globally by 2020, according to San Francisco-based Grand View Research, which provides information on industries including technology and health care. Close

Global sales of hearing aids and cochlear implants may reach a combined $9.5 billion... Read More

Close

Global sales of hearing aids and cochlear implants may reach a combined $9.5 billion globally by 2020, according to San Francisco-based Grand View Research, which provides information on industries including technology and health care.

Novartis plans to test its treatment on 45 patients in the U.S., with results expected by 2017, according to a description of the trial on clinicaltrials.gov, the National Institutes of Healths database of studies. Its too early to say when the treatment might be approved, Fishman said.

Visit link:
Lady Gaga at High Volume Drives Hearing-Loss Drug Search: Health