Researchers from the Auditory Neuropathology and Myelinopathies group of the Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas Sols-Morreale (IIBM) CSIC-UAM, together with scientists from the Institute of General Organic Chemistry of the CSIC and the Foundation for Biomedical Research of the Ramón y Cajal University Hospital have obtained a patent for a new molecule, quinolylnitrone QN23, to be used in the prevention and treatment of hearing loss.
In 2019 began the collaboration of the group Auditory Neuropathology and Myelinopathies led by Prof. Isabel Varela Nieto and the Medicinal Chemistry Laboratory of IQOG-CSIC, led by Prof. José Marco-Contelles with the aim of studying the potential of nitrones, small molecules with high antioxidant capacity, as new drugs to treat hearing loss. During the following two years and within the framework of the "NITROPROHEAR" project, co-financed by the Fundación General CSIC and the European Regional Development Fund, in vitro and in vivo assays were carried out to characterize the safety and antioxidant efficacy of a series of nitrones, among which QN23 was selected. The results obtained in the preclinical evaluation of QN23 were submitted to the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office for evaluation in July 2022.
In 2023, the results obtained with QN23 were submitted to the CIBERINNOVA 2023 call of the Center for Biomedical Research Network on Rare Diseases (CIBERER, ISCiii), to analyze the potential for early development of new drugs, receiving a positive assessment by the Kaertor Foundation. This positive evaluation and the recently obtained patent consolidate QN23 as a molecule with translational potential. It is worth mentioning that QN23 is already attracting the interest of pharmaceutical companies.
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