Royal National Institute For Deaf People Calls On Biotechs To Tackle Hearing Loss

Main Category: Hearing / Deafness
Article Date: 12 Nov 2008 - 1:00 PST

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BIO-Europe Conference - 17-19 November 2008 - Mannheim/Heidelberg, Germany. There are currently no drugs available to protect against, prevent or restore hearing loss. The only options for individuals suffering hearing loss are hearing aids and cochlear implants. RNID Research is attending BIO-Europe to raise awareness of the currently unmet clinical needs of people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

RNID (Royal National Institute for Deaf People) is driving biomedical research forwards to ensure that medical treatments are developed to protect and improve hearing, and ultimately cure deafness and related conditions such as tinnitus. It seeks to do this by engaging pharmaceutical and biotech organisations in the hearing loss research field and demonstrating how their drugs may be translated to hearing loss.

RNID Research also funds cutting edge research and trains new scientists. Its achievements range from improved fitting of hearing aids, identification of genes that increase the risk of developing age-related and noise-induced hearing loss. RNID research has linked smoking, obesity and exposure to loud noise to hearing loss in later life. Other research has focused on growing auditory cells from stem cells that may be used to restore hearing in the future.

Dr Ralph Holme, Director of Biomedical Research, RNID, says: "The involvement of industry will be vital in turning promising research findings into treatments for hearing loss and tinnitus.

"We can help companies from all over the world understand how their technology could be used to protect hearing, and we may be able to play match-maker between them and experts in the field."

"By producing market reports - which are available from our booth - RNID hopes the biotechnology industry will see the demand and real need for treatments that protect and restore hearing and the significant investment opportunities within hearing research."

1. RNID Research will be at booth 58 at BIO-Europe, raising awareness for hearing loss, the types of research we fund and our consultancy role to companies where we offer:

- Insight and market intelligence through free market reports
- Access to our list of global contacts
- Consultancy and recommendations on how your company can enter the hearing loss market

2. RNID is the largest charity working to change the world for the UK's nine million deaf and hard of hearing people. We do this with the help of our members by campaigning and lobbying, raising awareness of deafness and hearing loss, providing services and through social, medical and technical research.

RNID Research