Decibel Therapeutics

Decibel Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing treatments that restore functional hair cells within the inner ear to treat disorders of hearing and balance. The company uses single-cell genomics capabilities and proprietary gene therapy technologies through its research, discovery, and drug development platform aimed at restoring hearing and balance function, providing patients with life-changing medicines for hearing and balance disabilities.

The company has provided research into the link between hearing dysfunction and inner ear pathology. It is working on drug delivery to the inner ear, inner ear imaging, inner ear PK/PD modeling and measurements, and genetics and target identification for therapies for inner ear, hearing, and balance disorders.

Decibel Therapeutics lead drug candidate works to prevent cisplatin ototoxicity for cancer patients being treated with cisplatin. The cisplatin ototoxicity often leads to deafness as a side effect from chemotherapy. DB-020 is intended to protect the cells in hearing from the chemotherapy effects.

DB-OTO is being developed to treat congenital deafness. The gene therapy is intended to restore production of otoferlin, a protein key for the hair cells located in the cochlea.

DB-201 is Decibel Therapeutics' lead candidate for balance disorders. The drug is intended to coax new vestibular hair cell growth. It targets bilateral vestibulopathy, which causes dizziness and unsteadiness from inner ear damage, and is administered by a local injection of an adeno-associated virus.

Decibel Therapeutics has exclusive license agreements with the University of Florida and the University of California, San Francisco, for adeno-associated virus gene therapy technology to restore hearing to individuals with profound, congenital hearing loss caused by mutations in the otoferlin gene.