Success in revolutionary new treatment for hearing loss

14 May 2024 (Last updated: 14 May 2024 15:03)

A British girl has had her hearing restored after becoming the first person worldwide to take part in a pioneering new gene therapy trial. On May 9 2024, Sky News reported that an 18 month old girl, who had been born deaf due to auditory neuropathy, has her hearing almost fully restored after a one-time treatment at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge. The procedure, which was described as “very similar to fitting a cochlear implant” involved administering the gene infusion into the right cochlear over 16 minutes. The girl’s parents reported seeing improvements in her hearing four weeks after the procedure, with noticeable improvements by 24 weeks. After 24 weeks, a hearing test showed a response of 25-30 decibels. The leader of the trial, Professor Manohar Bance, said results were "better than I hoped or expected".

Helen Cocks, President of ENT UK said:

"The success of this groundbreaking procedure is fantastic news. Going forward we could see a revolution in the way hearing loss is treated in patients not only with such auditory neuropathy  but also in other genetic causes of hearing loss."

The treatment was developed especially for children with OTOF mutations by biotech firm Regeneron, and a second child who has had the same surgery is also seeing positive results. The results of the trial were presented to the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy conference in Baltimore.