Sunnyvale, California–based Aerin Medical — one of MassDevice’s 20 medical device startups you need to know in 2020 — designed its RhinAer temperature-controlled radiofrequency (RF) technology to disrupt nerve signals that cause chronic rhinitis symptoms, including constant runny nose and post-nasal drip.
According to a news release, data from the two-year safety and efficacy trial, published in Allergy and Rhinology, demonstrated that treatment with RhinAer to the posterior nasal nerve (PNN) is safe and provides significant, durable symptom improvement for both chronic non-allergic and allergic rhinitis patients.
“This long-term data confirms that RhinAer enables us to effectively provide lasting relief to our patients who suffer from chronic rhinitis,” Advanced ENT and Allergy (New Albony, Indiana) Dr. V. Vasu Kakarlapudi said in the news release. “Treatment of the PNN using RhinAer has been shown to be an effective, patient-friendly option to treat both chronic allergic and non-allergic rhinitis. It’s exciting that otolaryngologists have a safe, non-invasive treatment option that can be performed in the clinic under local anesthesia and that provides long-term benefits for our patients.”
The study was an extension of a prospective, multi-center, single-arm trial designed to collect long-term outcomes for 34 patients who had undergone a single treatment on the PNN with RhinAer 24 months prior.
At 24 months, 88.2% of patients responded to treatment, independent or rhinitis subtype. Patients all exhibited a durable improvement in rhinitis symptoms, with a 65.5% reduction in symptoms using the reflective total nasal symptom (rTNSS) score, plus improvement from baseline in both post-nasal drip and chronic cough through 24 months.
Patients also reported a higher quality of life in terms of sleep quality, well-being and lower feelings of embarrassment/self-consciousness about their condition. They reported using fewer oral and nasal medications to control symptoms at 24 months compared to the beginning of the study, while patient-reported satisfaction remained high and no serious adverse events occurred during the 24-month period.
“We appreciate the commitment of physician investigators to providing their peers with highly anticipated long-term results showing both lasting outcomes and a corresponding significant improvement in quality of life for chronic rhinitis patients,” Aerin Medical CEO Matt Brokaw said. “RhinAer provides ENTs a compelling alternative with lasting benefits for appropriate chronic rhinitis patients whether they suffer from allergic or non-allergic rhinitis.”
