GAINESVILLE, Fla., Dec. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The University
of Florida (UF) has started enrolling subjects in a new study
testing the oral drug developed by Sound Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(SPI-1005) to prevent hearing loss caused by loud music. Loud
music or noise can induce temporary and permanent auditory
threshold shifts (TTS or PTS). As people age, the level of PTS
grows and results in a moderate loss of speech perception and
discrimination, especially in noisy environments. In this Phase-
II interventional clinical trial, volunteers will listen to pre-
selected music delivered using an iPod® and insert earphones
providing an exposure that results in small but reliable
temporary threshold shifts. Volunteers will take a placebo or
SPI-1005 before and after this exposure, to assess the extent to
which TTS is reduced, and/or the rate of recovery is
accelerated. SPI-1005 is an oral capsule that contains ebselen,
a synthetic molecule that mimics the activity of Glutathione
Peroxidase (GPx), a critical enzyme in