The company wants to have the drug on the market by 2030.
Japanese researchers are working on a world-first drug that can help patients grow completely new teeth. Japan Times reported. Toregem Biopharma, funded by Kyoto University, which is developing the breakthrough drug, will conduct clinical trials on healthy adults in July 2024 and aims to have the drug on the market by 2030.
Remarkably, both humans and animals possess ‘tooth buds’, which have the potential to become a new tooth, in addition to baby and permanent teeth. However, in most cases, these buds do not develop and eventually disappear. The company has now developed an antibody drug that inhibits the protein in the mouth that suppresses growth and prevents the development of “tooth buds.”
In 2018, the antibody drug was administered to ferrets, resulting in the successful growth of new teeth. These ferrets had both baby and permanent teeth, just like humans.
The company plans to conduct trials on patients with anodontia, a congenital condition in which some or all permanent teeth are missing. The children receive one dose injected to stimulate tooth growth.
“Missing teeth in a child can affect the development of their jawbone. We hope the drug will serve as a key to solving these problems,” said Katsu Takahashi, co-founder of Toregem Biopharma and head of dentistry and oral surgery at Kitano Hospital. in Osaka.
They hope to be able to use the drug in the future for adults who have lost teeth due to cavities.
Toregem’s president Honoka Kiso wrote on the company’s website that she had lost teeth as a teenager due to a bone disease.
“I wanted to study the cause of my disease and how to regenerate lost teeth. Toregem Biopharma hopes to first treat patients with congenital tooth loss who do not grow permanent tooth buds due to genetic causes. Our ultimate goal is to provide advanced and scientifically based clinical solutions for the growth of teeth coming from their own tissues,” she said.
