The purpose of this study is to investigate the safety and efficacy of neramexane mesylate in the treatment of subjective tinnitus in comparison to placebo.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients aged 18 to 75 years with a clinical diagnosis of first onset,
• Persistent (i.e. tinnitus should never be absent for > 24 hours in a row), subjective, uni- or bilateral tinnitus present for at least 3 months but not more than 12 months

Exclusion Criteria:

• Clinical diagnosis of intermittent or pulsatile tinnitus
• Patients who have tinnitus as a concomitant symptom of an otological/neurological disease (such as otitis media, Menière's disease, otosclerosis, etc)