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Autifony Therapeutics is developing pharmaceutical treatments for hearing disorders, which affect a significant proportion of the population. Autifony ‘s approach is focused on Kv3 potassium channel modulation, a novel mechanism of action. These ion channels regulate neuronal activity within the auditory system, and our new drugs aim to treat age related hearing loss and tinnitus. The lead programme entered Phase I clinical trials in May 2013.

Given Autifony’s focus on modulation of Kv3 channels, which have also been implicated in other neurological and psychiatric disorders, there are opportunities for Autifony to investigate these other indications with compounds with different profiles. Autifony was recently awarded Technology Strategy Board funding to progress the development of a candidate drug for the treatment of schizophrenia, working together with academic collaborators at the Universities of Manchester and Newcastle.

Autifony Therapeutics Limited was formed in 2011 as a spin-out from GlaxoSmithKline. The company is privately funded by leading venture capital investors SV Life Sciences, Imperial Innovations and Pfizer Venture Investments. Autifony’s head office is at the Imperial College Incubator in London, and has a subsidiary with medicinal chemistry and biology labs based in Verona, Italy.