The UK's Rinri Therapeutics, a spin-out of Sheffield University, has bagged two major pharma players in Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH and UCB Group, to help fund development of its cell-based therapy to restore hearing.
Boehringer Doubles Down On Deafness With Rinri Backing
After making a move into hearing loss with an investment into Acousia Therapeutics, BI is backing a UK biotech which hopes to reverse neuropathic sensorineural hearing loss.

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The company said the NORSE EIGHT trial of ONS-5010 did not meet the primary endpoint of showing noninferiority to ranibizumab, but it still plans to file for US FDA approval.
But differences in trial design means it is hard to handicap GSK’s product against Mirum’s volixibat.
The company is developing the drug as a way to reduce injection burden for wet AMD patients and plans to meet with the US FDA early next year to discuss Phase IIb topline results.
The dual agonist of the FP and EP3 receptors has shown efficacy in a Japanese Phase III trial and completed its US Phase II study, which aligns with the Japanese firm’s global expansion strategy for glaucoma products.
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The pact could be worth more than $2.6bn and adds to growing big pharma investment in the technology.
Following the near-total dominance of IgG antibodies, the UK group is backing the potential of IgA and IgE-based therapies to transform cancer treatment with the purchase of US-headquartered TigaTx.
By allowing it to enter the brain more easily, trontinemab’s brain shuttle brings more patients to ‘amyloid zero’ levels faster, and with fewer brain swelling side effects.