BOSTON & SEATTLE– Sensory Cloud Inc., a health technology company pioneering treatments for respiratory human illnesses of the airway lining, and Hyfe Inc., a pioneer in AI-powered cough detection technology, announced promising results from an exploratory clinical study, published in ERJ Open Research, showing that Sensory Cloud’s investigational inhaled alkaline hypertonic divalent salt (HDS) aerosol significantly reduced cough frequency in patients suffering from refractory chronic cough (RCC). No clinically meaningful adverse events were reported. Cough counts were measured continuously using Hyfe Inc.’s AI-powered cough detection technology, RCC is a condition that is estimated to afflict approximately 10% of the human population, with limited treatment options.
Alkaline HDS aerosols, administered to the larynx from a simple spray-mist device, rehydrate the upper airways, potentially reducing neural inflammation, and lowering airway triggers of cough independently of cough-receptor category. In the clinical trial, initiated by Professor Kian Fan Chung at Imperial College London, RCC subjects wore a digital cough monitor watch (Hyfe Cough Monitor Suite) for 3 weeks, with one week of baseline cough monitoring, one week of saline control aerosol, and one week of treatment with an alkaline HDS aerosol (SC001). Placebo-adjusted efficacy of cough rate reduction ranged from 25% from Day 1 to 35% (p=0.02) from Day 3 for SC001 pH 9. No clinically meaningful adverse events were reported.
“Treating RCC upstream of cough receptor provocation, rather than at a specific cough receptor target as the paradigm for most RCC drug candidates advancing in the clinic today, is an exciting potential new modality for RCC treatment,” said Professor Chung. “The results from this study across cough rates from 4 to 34 coughs per hour are encouraging, suggesting the possibility of a treatment for RCC, which patients we see at the Royal Brompton Clinic sorely need.”
“Dehydration of human upper airways worsens respiratory illnesses,” said David A. Edwards, former Harvard University professor and founder and CSO of Sensory Cloud Inc. “The clinical trial results suggesting that cough frequency in RCC is reduced rapidly and across the entire range of cough rates with an endogenous rehydrating aerosol are encouraging for the potential of safely treating RCC, and possibly other chronic respiratory diseases provoked by dysfunction of the airway lining.”
“We’re excited to see our technology play such a critical role in advancing the assessment of cough treatments,” said Peter Small, Chief Medical Officer of Hyfe Inc. “This study not only highlights the potential of Sensory Cloud’s alkaline HDS treatment but also demonstrates the transformative power of continuous cough monitoring in clinical trials.”
Alkaline HDS for treatment of RCC is now advancing in a Phase 2a clinical trial as an orally inhaled alkaline magnesium-chloride aerosol (SC0023). Cough counts will be monitored continuously for the 10 to 12 week duration of the trial by the Hyfe Cough Monitor Suite.
