Efficacy of Intratympanic OTO-104 for the Treatment of Ménière's Disease: The Outcome of Three Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Studies

To determine the efficacy of intratympanic OTO-104 for the treatment of Ménière's disease. STUDY DESIGNS: Three randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter studies of OTO-104 in patients with Ménière's disease. SETTING: The United States and throughout Europe. PATIENTS: Individuals with Ménière's disease aged 18 to 85 years. INTERVENTIONS: All three studies were conducted according to a similar protocol, whereby after a 1-month lead-in period, eligible patients received a single intratympanic injection of either 12 mg OTO-104 (otic formulation of dexamethasone in thermosensitive poloxamer) or placebo (1:1) and were observed for 3 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary efficacy endpoint was measured by the number of definitive vertigo days (DVDs) at month 3. Secondary objective was OTO-104 safety and tolerability including adverse events, audiometry, tympanometry, and otoscopic examinations. RESULTS: Although OTO-104 demonstrated numerically greater reductions in DVD compared with placebo across all three studies, statistical significance versus placebo (primary efficacy endpoint) was only achieved in one study, the AVERTS-2 study (n = 174, p = 0.029). Secondary vertigo efficacy endpoints were statistically significant at month 3 in that study including vertigo severity, the effect of vertigo on daily activity (days at home sick or bedridden), and vertigo frequency. In the AVERTS-1 study, which did not meet the primary endpoint, a subgroup analysis of the 115 patients (69.7% of study population) who did not previously receive intratympanic steroid injections demonstrated that OTO-104 patients had significantly lower mean DVD at month 3 than patients receiving placebo (1.9 for OTO-104 versus 3.0 for placebo; p = 0.045). Importantly, a significant placebo response was observed across studies in Ménière's disease patients. OTO-104 and the intratympanic injection procedure were well tolerated. CONCLUSIONS: In all three high-quality, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter studies, a single intratympanic injection of 12 mg OTO-104 demonstrated numerically greater reductions in vertigo versus placebo in patients with Ménière's disease, but statistical separation from placebo was demonstrated in only one of the studies. OTO-104 was safe and well tolerated. (Otonomy, Inc. funded; NCT02717442, NCT02612337, NCT03664674).