Great article that source, and it seems to agree with me ( I know…)
There is a version of this story circulating in popular media that frames it simply as a drug that grows back the teeth you lost as an adult.
That framing is exciting but premature, and it is worth being precise about what the current trial is and is not.
The Phase I trial is a safety study, not an efficacy trial.
Its participants are healthy adult men missing at least one molar.
The trial’s primary purpose is to determine whether the drug causes any adverse effects at human doses, not yet to demonstrate that a new tooth has grown in its place.
The timeline for broader clinical use reflects this reality.
The development timeline includes Phase I safety trials through 2025, Phase II efficacy trials in children with congenital tooth loss through 2027, and Phase III large-scale trials through 2029. Researchers aim for general availability by 2030.
And even when the drug eventually reaches the market, the initial patient population will be children born without teeth due to genetic conditions, not adults who need a molar replaced.
The headlines suggest tooth regrow will be available in a few years. And it might, if you’re an infant who’s missing a tooth under specific circumstances. Also, in this case the scientist is hinting at more than he can deliver right now (based on the research), and he conveniently has co-founded a company to develop this drug. Let’s just say I hope to be proven wrong, I could use three new teeth since I lost the previous ones 35 years ago.
Great article that source, and it seems to agree with me ( I know…)
Isn’t that how most clinical trials work though? The post doesn’t imply that it’s solved or widely available yet
(aside from the chipped tooth photo in the thumbnail I guess)
The headlines suggest tooth regrow will be available in a few years. And it might, if you’re an infant who’s missing a tooth under specific circumstances. Also, in this case the scientist is hinting at more than he can deliver right now (based on the research), and he conveniently has co-founded a company to develop this drug. Let’s just say I hope to be proven wrong, I could use three new teeth since I lost the previous ones 35 years ago.
Not sure why they need a phase3 at all. That’s an efficacy trial, efficacy should be obvious at phase 2 and the could get approval.
They should trial through the Australian TGA, it would take years off the time.