Reviving Retigabine for Tinnitus - Thanos Tzounopoulos, PhD

Tinnitus Talk

A drug to quieten your tinnitus. It’s what most people struggling with tinnitus desire. We had the pleasure of interviewing Thanos Tzounopoulos, PhD, director of the Pittsburgh Hearing Research Center, on his work to develop just such a drug.

His work builds on the previously somewhat successful off-label tinnitus drug Retigabine. That drug was taken off the market due to severe side effects. Thanos is now attempting to re-develop it, without the side effects, and better targeted at the source of the neural hyperactivity perceived as tinnitus.

In this episode, we speak extensively about Thanos’ theory of how tinnitus is generated in the brain and the role of (broken) potassium channels in this. He explains all the trial and error that went into re-developing the drug and speaks about the upcoming phases of research needed before the drug can come to market.

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