Sensorion in gene therapy collaboration with Institut Pasteur

Biopharmaceutical company Sensorion has entered into a research collaboration with French research body Institut Pasteur.

Sensorion, which specialises in treatments for inner ear diseases such as tinnitus, vertigo and hearing loss, made the announcement in a press release issued on Monday, May 27.

The company has entered into a partnership with the French institute to develop gene therapy programmes for hereditary forms of deafness.

Sensorion CEO Nawal Ouzren commented that the deal was “a great milestone for Sensorion, that enables us to develop the broadest pipeline with therapeutic solutions to prevent, treat and restore inner ear diseases”.

After completion of a research programme, Sensorion will be granted an option to obtain exclusive licences to develop and market the drug candidates.

The terms of the licences are predefined for two specific programmes related to hereditary monogenic forms of deafness, or forms of deafness involving a single gene. For treatments aimed at other hereditary forms of deafness, the licenses will be negotiated in light of the results of the collaborative research project.

Christine Petit, chair of Sensorion’s scientific advisory board, said that the deal would “allow us to transform our scientific progress into innovations for the benefit of patients, whether it is by contributing to create new diagnostic tools, improving patients’ healthcare pathway or developing curative treatments for hearing disorders”.

Isabelle Buckle, head of research applications and industrial relations at Institut Pasteur, added that “the scientific work undertaken by Petit’s teams is of great interest for public health and for the foundations of a field that is unfortunately of increasing concern”.

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