World’s 1st drug to regrow teeth enters clinical trials

globalnews.ca:

The ability to regrow your own teeth could be just around the corner.

A team of scientists, led by a Japanese pharmaceutical startup, are getting set to start human trials on a new drug that has successfully grown new teeth in animal test subjects.

Toregem Biopharma is slated to begin clinical trials in July of next year after it succeeded growing new teeth in mice five years ago, the Japan Times reports.

Dr. Katsu Takahashi, a lead researcher on the project and head of the dentistry and oral surgery department at the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital, says “the idea of growing new teeth is every dentist’s dream.”

“I’ve been working on this since I was a graduate student,” he told Japan’s national daily news site, the Mainichi, earlier this year. “I was confident I’d be able to make it happen.”

Research news
New drug to regenerate lost teethhttps://t.co/qisOck4zt2<a href=«https://twitter.com/hashtag/kyotouniversity?src=hash&ref_src=» https:>#kyotouniversity

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— Kyoto University (@KyotoU_News) <a href=«https://twitter.com/KyotoU_News/status/1381795530725019651?ref_src=» https:>April 13, 2021

In his research, which he’s been conducting at Kyoto University since 2005, Takahashi learned of a particular gene in mice that affects the growth of their teeth.

The antibody for this gene, USAG-1, can help stimulate tooth growth if it is suppressed – and scientists have since worked to develop a “neutralizing antibody