Auris Medical Holding, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing treatments for inner ear disorders, has announced the extension of its collaboration with King’s College London on the discovery of small molecule compounds for a second-generation tinnitus treatment.

“Together with King’s College London, we have made great progress on our second generation tinnitus project,” said Thomas Jung, MD, PhD, and Auris Medical’s chief development officer, in the press statement. “The team’s drug discovery expertise has generated interesting leads that have been tested in vitro and in vivo. The extension of our collaboration allows for further development with the aim of selecting a lead compound for our AM-102 program by the end of 2017.”

Professor David E. Thurston of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Science is leading the team at King’s to develop and optimize a range of specific small molecules for Auris Medical’s AM-102 project, according to the company. The project builds on earlier work performed at King’s for Auris Medical by Professor Pat Doherty and Gareth Williams. The AM-102 compounds bind to a novel, undisclosed drug target for treating certain types of tinnitus.

Source: Auris Medical Holding, King’s College