Clinical practice guidelines for gene therapy to treat hereditary hearing loss

Hereditary deafness is a common neurosensory disorder, and 148 non-syndromic deafness genes have been identified to date. Gene therapy has been used to treat a variety of genetic diseases, but no gene therapy drug for hereditary deafness has been approved for clinical use. At present, several clinical trials of gene therapy for hereditary deafness are underway. However, few normative documents have been issued to guide the standardization of gene therapy for hearing loss, and this document is the first global gene therapy guideline for hereditary hearing loss. The guidelines were jointly developed and drafted by experienced audiologists, virologists and biologists who are vigorously involved in inner ear gene therapy research in the Hearing, Speech and Communication Subsociety of Biophysical Society of China, Audiology Development Foundation Of China and Audiology Subsociety of Jiangsu Medical Association. These guidelines cover preclinical research and clinical practice of gene therapy for hereditary deafness, including indications, key points of pre-clinical research, patient selection criteria, pre-clinical preparation, drug efficacy, drug safety evaluation criteria, ethical review, etc. We hope that the guidelines will promote the standardization of clinical practice related to gene therapy for hereditary deafness in China and around the world.