Otonomy: Hearing-focused biotech grabs trio of programs from Otonomy's fire sale

Otonomy may be shutting down, but the lessons learned there will live on at another biotech working on new treatments for hearing loss. San Francisco-based Spiral Therapeutics has bought certain assets related to three of Otonomy's programs, ranging from data, patent rights, and know-how to inventory. That includes data around Otonomy's twice-failed lead program, OTO-104 (Otividex), a sustained-exposure formulation of dexamethasone. In December, Otonomy announced it's letting all of its employees go after the board approved a dissolution plan, capping a fruitless search for strategic alternatives. But as part of the liquidation process, it explored selling the assets still in its pipeline - with proceeds from any sales to be distributed back to shareholders. Spiral said it "plans to leverage valuable data and insights gained from Otonomy's 15 years of experience in the field of inner ear disorders" and accelerate its own lead drug's path to late-stage clinical trials. While founder and CEO Hugo Peris suggested the Otonomy assets will be integrated into Spiral's pipeline, he did not specify whether Spiral will further develop those programs. Endpoints News has reached out for comment. The company raised $8.25 million earlier this year to fund its work on therapies for inner ear disorders. Like OTO-104, Spiral's top program, SPT-2101, is a sustained-release steroid formulation, except it utilizes a different drug delivery platform to reach the inner ear. And as with OTO-104, Spiral is testing SPT-2101 in Ménière's disease, a condition characterized by sudden "attacks" on the inner ear, such as vertigo and tinnitus, sometimes resulting in hearing loss. OTO-104 flunked several mid- and late-stage trials despite revisions to the clinical trial protocol and statistical analysis. One of the first things it did with the data acquired from Otonomy, Spiral added, was to compare the clinical data to what it's seeing with SPT-2101 in the same patient population. The conclusion? Its drug is statistically superior to both OTO-104 and placebo in terms of helping patients get away from definitive vertigo days at three months. For an undisclosed sum, Spiral also bought patent rights, data and know-how related to OTO-510, an otoprotectant; and preclinical and clinical data and inventory related to OTO-413, a sustained-exposure formulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor that had succeeded OTO-104 as the lead drug but also disappointed in Phase II. Notably, the biotech did not acquire OTO-825, a preclinical gene therapy for congenital hearing loss previously spotlighted by Otonomy execs.