The Safety and Efficacy of PF-04958242 in Age-Related Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess the potential to pharmacologically improve auditory function in adults with age-related sensorineural hearing loss.

Objective: To explore the potential for the α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid potentiator mechanism to affect auditory function in individuals with mild to moderate age-related sensorineural hearing loss.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-dose, 3-way crossover study was conducted in 3 academic ear, nose, and throat clinics and 2 private clinical research centers between December 22, 2011, and February 26, 2013. Participants were 50- to 75-year-old men and women of nonchildbearing potential with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss.

Interventions: Three single doses of PF-04958242, an α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid glutamate-positive allosteric modulator, and placebo.

Main Outcomes And Measures: Pure-tone average, speech discrimination score, and speech in noise testing change from baseline at 1 and 5 hours after a single dose of PF-04958242.

Results: The treatment was safe and well tolerated. The estimates for the primary end point change from baseline in pure-tone average compared with placebo at 1 hour were -0.77 (95% CI, -2.14 to 0.59) and 0.37 (95% CI, -0.97 to 1.72) for 0.27 and 0.35 mg, respectively. At 5 hours the estimates were -0.57 (95% CI, -2.43 to 1.29) and -0.56 (95% CI, -2.45 to 1.33) for 0.27 and 0.35 mg, respectively. No significant change from baseline was demonstrated compared with placebo in the primary or secondary study end points at 1 or 5 hours after receiving treatment.

Conclusions And Relevance: To our knowledge, this clinical trial is the first study of a pharmacologic treatment for age-related sensorineural hearing loss and provides information with regard to study design, end points, variability, data characteristics, and operational feasibility to guide the design of future hearing loss trials.

Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01518920.