It is estimated that worldwide over 360 million people worldwide have hearing loss - making this a major health concern. It is also known that Aminoglycoside chemotherapy can cause permanent hearing loss in some 20-25% of treated patients. Despite work ingoing in this space, there is currently no known protection from aminoglycoside-related hearing loss. To date, candidate compounds in various pre-clinical trials are related to antioxidants, vitamins, and glutathione metabolism - with the concen that many of these compounds, -- eg sodium thiosulfate - can interfere with aminoglycoside bactericidal activity. In 2010, two founders of what is now Ting Therapeutics began working with a drug used in cancer treatment with the objective of adapting for potential use to prevent and/or treat hearing loss due to chemotherapy or noise. This preliminary work yielded other drugs potially usable for the same purpose - progress that in turn resulted in establishment oof Ting Therapeutics.
