Restoring Smell at the Source: Rick Geoffrion on Sit and Deliver
More than 50 million people in the U.S. and Europe live with smell loss after a viral infection. There are still no scientifically validated treatments for it. Losing smell also takes away about 80% of what we perceive as taste.
In this episode of Drug Delivery Leader’s Sit and Deliver, Cyrano Therapeutics CEO and cofounder Rick Geoffrion talks with Chief Editor Tom von Gunden about why this condition has gone untreated for so long, and how Cyrano is working to change that.
In this video:
- What the virus damages: Smell receptors can stop firing when the cells that support them are damaged, and Rick explains how Cyrano’s approach targets that problem.
- Why a nasal spray: Spraying the drug directly into the nose lets Cyrano use 500 to 1,000 times less drug than an earlier oral approach, which caused significant side effects.
- A purpose-built pump: A standard pharmacy pump reached only about 10% of the smell region in nasal-model testing. Rick demonstrates a custom pump that produces a fine mist designed to reach the top of the nasal cavity.
- What’s next: About 95% of Parkinson’s patients experience smell loss, often years before tremors begin. Cyrano is exploring this in a pilot study.