Otonomy Reports Positive Top-Line Results from OTO-413 Trial for Hearing Loss

Otonomy announced positive top-line results from the Phase 1/2 clinical trial of OTO-413 in subjects with speech-in-noise hearing difficulty. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial demonstrated that a single intratympanic injection of OTO-413, a sustained exposure formulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), was well-tolerated across all dose cohorts. Furthermore, there was demonstration of therapeutic activity of OTO-413 versus placebo across multiple clinically-validated speech-in-noise hearing tests at consecutive time points (Days 57 and 85). Based on these results, the company plans to continue development of OTO-413 for the treatment of hearing loss.

All subjects enrolled in this trial self-reported hearing difficulty in a noisy environment that was confirmed by speech-in-noise (SIN) testing. Subjects could also have up to moderately-severe hearing loss by standard testing in a quiet background. Multiple clinically-validated SIN hearing tests including Digits-in-Noise (DIN), Words-in-Noise (WIN), and American English Matrix test were administered at baseline and following treatment at Day 15, 29, 57, and 85. The assessment of therapeutic activity is based on demonstration of a clinically meaningful improvement from baseline according to the thresholds utilized for each of the SIN tests. The top-line results below include the 9 subjects from the OTO-413 high dose (0.3 mg) cohort with test results on both Day 57 and Day 85 and 8 placebo subjects pooled from the last 3 dose cohorts.

• 6 out of 9 (67%) OTO-413 subjects demonstrated a clinically-meaningful improvement on at least one of the three SIN tests at both Days 57 and 85 versus 0 out of 8 (0%) for placebo.

• 3 out of 9 (33%) OTO-413 subjects demonstrated a clinically-meaningful improvement by two or more different SIN tests at both Days 57 and 85 versus 0 out of 8 (0%) for placebo.

• Considering the American English Matrix test that mimics a real world setting by using short sentences in background noise, 4 out of 9 (44%) OTO-413 subjects showed a clinically-meaningful improvement at both Days 57 and 85 compared to 0 out of 7 (0%) placebo subjects showing a clinically-meaningful improvement at any single time point.

• Most of the patients enrolled in this trial also had moderately-severe hearing loss by standard testing in a quiet background. The responder rate for OTO-413 was equally favorable in this subset with 5 out of 7 (71%) OTO-413 subjects demonstrating a clinically-meaningful improvement in at least one SIN test and 3 out of 7 (43%) responding by two or more tests at both Days 57 and 85 compared to 0 out of 6 (0%) placebo subjects.

• Improvements from baseline were also observed for multiple other exploratory endpoints and for OTO-413 treated subjects in the lower dose cohorts.

A total of 29 subjects were treated with OTO-413 across four ascending dose cohorts (0.01 mg, 0.03 mg, 0.10 mg and 0.30 mg) with a similar frequency of adverse events (AEs) reported as for placebo subjects. There was no apparent impact of OTO-413 dose on AE incidence, no serious AEs reported and no patients who discontinued the trial due to an AE. Otonomy believes these results demonstrate that a single intratympanic injection of OTO-413 was well-tolerated.

“We are excited to announce these positive top-line clinical results for OTO-413 that support its continued development for patients with hearing loss,” said David A. Weber, Ph.D., president and CEO of Otonomy. “It is also a great way to build on the successful clinical trial results we announced this summer for OTO-313 in tinnitus, and further affirms our leading position in the emerging neurotology field. We continue to look forward to our third clinical catalyst with results from the Phase 3 trial of OTIVIDEX® in Ménière’s disease still expected in the first quarter of 2021.”