Regeneron’s announcement follows news that Eli Lilly’s competing experimental gene therapy gave an 11-year-old boy who was born deaf the ability to hear. The treatment, which Lilly acquired in a buyout of biotechnology company Akouos, also targets otoferlin.
The results suggest gene therapy may become a viable therapeutic option for people with congenital deafness. The field has attracted a great deal of attention, as evidenced in abstracts of data presented at the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy’s yearly meeting. One, from a group of researchers based in China and the U.S., found hearing recovery in 10 out of 11 patients.
