By Laura Roloff
May 26, 2026
Art by Evan Johnson
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company with corporate headquarters in New York, recently announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval of Otarmeni™, the first and only gene therapy for genetic hearing loss.
Regeneron is using patented technology from the University of Missouri to deliver the therapy to individuals born with profound congenital hearing loss due to an otoferlin deficiency.
Dongsheng Duan, Curators’ Distinguished Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology; Research Specialist Lead Yongping Yue; and former graduate student Arkasubhra Ghosh invented the technology.
Duan specializes in designing vehicles, or viral vector systems, that bring a therapeutic gene to cells or tissues. In this case, his innovations expand the capacity of the Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV) to deliver genes that, in the past, have been too big to fit on a single AAV vector.
“This is the first FDA-approved dual AAV product, an approach that enables gene therapy to be used to treat a larger diversity of genetic diseases,” said Brian Buntaine, senior technology transfer manager who works with Duan and other faculty inventors to leverage the commercial potential of their research. “MU is proud to have partnered with Regeneron, which is offering Otarmeni™ for free in the U.S., highlighting their commitment to improving lives through science.”
Increasing the impact of academic research
Every year, Mizzou researchers disclose approximately 100-plus promising new inventions such as Duan’s viral vector system, and they partner with the Technology Advancement office to patent innovations and find industry partners to further develop and commercialize them.
Faculty inventors are responsible for all kinds of products, including new plant varieties, devices and tools, therapeutics and diagnostics, and software and engineering solutions.
For the fourth consecutive year, Mizzou and the UM System were named among the top 100 U.S. universities for utility patents by the National Academy of Inventors. In 2025, faculty disclosed 140 new inventions, and the university secured 12 U.S. patents and generated $2.4 million in licensing revenue from 25 industry partners. New commercial products also had first sales, including a black walnut cultivar and a hyper realistic IV training arm for students in medical programs.
Inventions that received U.S. patents in 2025
Animal and plant biotechnology
- Pathogen-resistant animals with modified genes
Mizzou inventors: Randall S. Prather, Kevin Wells and Kristin Whitworth - Methods of altering seed weight and seed oil content to strengthen food security
Mizzou inventors: Jay Thelen and Yajin Ye - A new cultivar of black walnut named UMCA™ Hickman characterized by early and extensive spur bearing, high kernel percentage and high kernel yield
Mizzou inventors: Mark Coggeshall, Nicholas Meier and Ronald Revord
Therapeutics and treatments
- Neutron capture therapy for infection control of surgical implants
Mizzou inventors: John Brockman, Michael Flagg, John Gahl, Charles Maitz, James Stannard and David Volgas - A novel system for total elbow replacement utilizing a ball-and-socket approach
Mizzou inventors: James Cook, Trent Guess and Matthew J. Smith - An efficient cryopreservation device preventing the direct contact between samples and extracellular ice for superior tissue preservation
Mizzou inventors: John K. Critser, Xu Han and Peter Koulen - Engineered mini- and micro-dystrophin genes to treat muscular dystrophy
Mizzou inventors: Dongsheng Duan, Yi Lai, Yongping Yue and Junling Zhao - Selective covalent capture of a DNA sequence to aid in disease detection
Mizzou inventors: Kent Gates, Li-qun (Andrew) Gu, Xu Guo and Maryam Imani Nejad - A novel class of lysine-valine containing amino acids to improve drug delivery
Mizzou inventors: Josiah Smith and Bret Ulery
Engineering solutions
- Lattice-based metamaterials to guide elastic waves around protected objects without disrupting the waveforms, providing protection from vibrations and stealth from detection
Mizzou inventors: Yangyang Chen, Guoliang Huang, Hussein Nassar and Xianchen Xu
