Restoring Hearing

Gene therapy that may reverse hearing loss

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By Simeon Bennett

February 5, 2015 at 10:28 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

This article is part of the February 9, 2015 issue of businessweek.

Innovators: Doug Brough and Lloyd Klickstein
Ages: Both 59 and 57
Titles: Chief scientific officer, GenVec; head of translational medicine, new indications discovery unit, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research.

Form and function: An experimental gene therapy may reverse hearing loss by stimulating the regrowth of microscopic sound-sensing hair cells in the inner ear destroyed by disease or prolonged exposure to loud noise.