Hearing loss company Acousia Therapeutics to present data for ACOU085 at ARO 2022 MidWinter Meeting February 5-9

ACOU085 is a proprietary small molecule, otoprotective drug candidate. In December 2021, it was granted a CTA for initiation of first-in-human Phase 1b clinical trial by the German BfArM. The ACOU085 poster presentations at the 2022 ARO MidWinter Meeting will cover preclinical pharmacology, pharmacokinetic and local exposure data obtained using a a proprietary, sustained-release formulation for transtympanic administration.

Small-Molecule KCNQ4 Agonist Protects Against Outer Hair Cell Loss in the SAMP8 Mouse Model of Age-Related Hearing Loss (Peixoto Pinheiro et al.)

This proof-of-concept study uses the senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) model to demonstrate the ability of repeated ACOU085 administrations to significantly reduce age-related ABR threshold shifts. This was supported by a histological demonstration of reduced OHC loss in this age-related hearing loss (ARHL) model using the novel KCNQ4 agonist ACOU085.

Translational Development of ACOU085 for the Prevention of Cisplatin-Induced Hearing Loss (CIHL) (Dyhrfjeld-Johnsen et al.)

This pharmacokinetic and local exposure study, compares the transtympanic administration of proprietary sustained-release formulations of ACOU085 in SAMP8 mice and guinea pigs with fixed drug load and administration volume relative to the species-specific inner ear volume. Significant inner ear exposure is achieved in both species, with a longer duration of exposure in the larger species receiving the largest absolute volume of the proprietary formulation.