A Japanese pharmaceutical company is developing a new drug which could allow adults to grow new teeth.
With hopes for the drug to begin clinical trials as soon as 2024, the antibody developed inactivates the USAG-1 protein in the mouth which prohibits growth and stops “tooth buds” from developing.
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In 2018, the drug was successfully administered to ferrets, which have a similar tooth structure to humans.
A second trial on humans is planned: this one on children born without some or all of their teeth.
If the drug from Toregem Biopharma, funded by Kyoto University, is successful in its trials, it could be on the market from 2030.
Toregem Biopharma present Honoka Kiso said she had lost teeth as a teenager due to a bone disease.
“I wanted to study the cause of my illness and how to regenerate lost teeth,” she wrote online.
“Toregem Biopharma first hope to treat patients with congenital tooth loss who do not grow permanent tooth buds due to genetic causes.
“[Our] final goal is to offer advanced and scientifically driven clinical solution for the growth of teeth derived from their own tissues.”