Page 12 - IAV Digital Magazine #595

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
World-first Tooth-regrowing Drug Will Be Given To Humans In September
By Bronwyn Thompson
The world's first human trial of a drug that can regenerate teeth will begin in a few months, less than a year on from news of its success in ani- mals. This paves the way for the medicine to be commercially available as early as 2030.
The trial, which will take place at Kyoto University Hospital
from
September to August 2025, will treat 30 males aged 30-64 who are missing at least one molar. The intravenous treatment will be tested for its efficacy on human dentition, after it suc- cessfully grew new teeth in ferret and mouse models with no significant side effects.
"We want to do something to help those who are suffer-
ing
from tooth loss or absence," said lead researcher Katsu Takahashi, head of dentistry and oral sur- gery at Kitano Hospital. "While there has been no treat- ment to date provid- ing a permanent cure, we feel that people's expectations for tooth growth are high."
Following this 11- month first stage, the researchers will then
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXG8Yo5SR-I
trial the drug on patients aged 2-7 who are missing at least four teeth due to congenital tooth defi- ciency, which is esti- mated to affect 1% of people. The team
is recruiting for this Phase IIa trial now.
Researchers are then looking at expanding the trial to those with partial edentulism, or people missing one to five permanent teeth due to environ- mental factors. The incidence of this varies from country to country, but it's esti- mated around 5% of Americans are miss- ing teeth, with a much higher inci- dence among older adults.
The medicine itself deactivates the uter- ine sensitization- associated gene-1 (USAG-1) protein, which suppresses tooth growth. As we reported in 2023, blocking USAG-1's interaction with other proteins encourages bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signal- ing, which triggers
new bone to gener- ate.
It resulted in new teeth emerging in the mouths of mice and ferrets, species that share close to the same USAG-1 prop- erties as humans.
"The USAG-1 protein has a high amino acid homology of 97% between differ- ent animal species, including humans, mice, and beagles," the researchers noted. However, there's no word on a beagle trial just yet...
Molecular biologist and dentist Takahashi has been working on tooth regeneration since 2005, and hopes this treatment won't just be for con- genital dental condi- tions but for anyone who has lost teeth, at any age.
If successful, this therapy could be available to patients with any permanently missing teeth within six years.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine