Etienne Guyot, state prefect for the regions of Occitanie and the Haute-Garonne, and Didier Codorniou, first vice-president of the region of Occitanie and the Mediterranean-Pyrenees, handed over the prize to the winners of the Call for Proposals entitled “Avenir littoral”, organized with the help of the Mediterranean Sea Hub, on the 25th of September, 2019. Receiving the “Avenir littoral” prize will make it possible to test the efficiency of innovative microalgae extracts in treating tinnitus, developed by Greensea, alongside the world leading R&D services company dedicated to hearing, CILcare.
Montpellier, October 3rd, 2019: Greensea, leaders in the validation and culture of algae, and CILcare, leaders in R&D services in hearing, announced the launch of an innovative collaborative project on microalgae and tinnitus. With the support of the State and the region of Occitanie, this project aims to test the efficiency of microalgae on preclinical models of chronic tinnitus induced by acoustic trauma.
Tinnitus is the presence of parasitic noise which one hears in the absence of external stimuli. These symptoms can arise from physical or acoustic trauma, after the intake of certain drugs, and can be associated with diseases such as Meniere’s disease. In most cases, tinnitus is also accompanied by hearing loss. 600 million people suffer from tinnitus the world over, with 1 to 2% presenting crippling cases. The prevalence of tinnitus, as well as hearing disorders in general, show a worrying growth curve according to the WHO: over a billion young people today are at risk of developing hearing disorders due to noise exposure.
Greensea has finetuned various microalgae extracts which are characterized by a powerful antioxidative and anti-inflammatory mechanism. Numerous publications have demonstrated the role played by these free agents in the treatment of chronic tinnitus, positioning antioxidants as health ingredients of interest to this pathology. In the event of positive results in this project, these validated natural extracts will be offered to pharmaceutical and nutraceutical companies for the commercialization or products to prevent and treat tinnitus.
About CILcare: CILcare is a CRO specialized in hearing and is world leader in this domain. Based in Montpellier, Paris and Boston, CILcare works with pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, biotech and medtech companies in the development of novel therapies to prevent and treat hearing loss, tinnitus and otitis.
About Greensea: Greensea is a company specialized in the largescale culture of salt and freshwater microalgae (phytoplankton), as well as the validation of marine compounds of plant-based origin (algae and marine plants). With 30 years of experience behind them, Greensea offers its products to the aquacultural, cosmetic, nutraceutical, food-processing and medical diagnostics markets.
Contacts:
CILCARE: Marie Peytavy-Izard, Marketing & Business Development Director
marie.peytavy@cilcare.com; +33 7 69 74 19 05
GREENSEA: Jean-Paul Cadoret, Appointed Director
jeanpaulcadoret@greensea.fr; +33 4 67 46 64 82
