It held the promise of restoring lost hearing by prompting dead hair cells in the cochlea to revive and regrow but that hope has now been put on hold.

Pharma giant Novartis has suspended the clinical trials of the experimental treatment CGF166. One of the lead investigators, Columbia University’s Dr. Lawrence Lustig, says, “We were not getting the results we’d hoped for.”

The study which began in 2014 was restricted to test subjects with very severe hearing loss which may mean that they had too little residual hearing left with too few remaining hair cells and support cells for the drug to work effectively.

Dr. Lustig also points out that, “A couple of patients did show noticeable improvements.” Perhaps that’s why the trials have been suspended but not cancelled.

Which could mean we may not have heard the last of CGF166.