 BOSTON, April 13, 2021 GLOBE NEWSWIRE -- Akouos, Inc. NASDAQ: AKUS, a precision genetic medicine company dedicated to developing potential gene therapies for individuals living with disabling hearing loss worldwide, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration FDA has granted both Orphan Drug Designation ODD and Rare Pediatric Disease Designation RPDD for AK-OTOF, a gene therapy intended for the treatment of otoferlin gene-mediated hearing loss. Akouos anticipates that it will submit an investigational new drug application IND for AK-OTOF in the first half of 2022. 