This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Episcleral drug delivery device targets retinal, vitreous disease
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
A new drug delivery system may revolutionize the delivery of medication to treat retinal and vitreous conditions, one of its developers said.
Preliminary pre-clinical testing is complete, and protocols are being developed for phase 1/2 human clinical trials scheduled to begin over the next year, according to a news release from the Vision Center at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
The episcleral drug reservoir, a tiny silicone cup filled with a drug and sealed to the episclera, promises to offer sustained, targeted and safe drug delivery directly to the interior of the eye.
A. Linn Murphree, MD, director of the retinoblastoma program at the Vision Center, discussed the device at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Summer Eye Research Conference on Ophthalmic Drug Delivery Systems in Bethesda, Md., according to the release.
"The implantation of this device on any organ and the ability to deliver medication to the affected organ could be a huge advance in how we currently treat cancer," Dr. Murphree said in the release.
The episcleral drug reservoir is placed under the conjunctiva and attached to the sclera. The cup gradually diffuses the drug through the sclera and inward to the retina and vitreous, like an organ-specific transdermal skin patch. The device causes little or no discomfort and does not hinder normal vision, the release said.
The device may replace intravitreal injections and eye drops. In children with retinoblastoma, it may eliminate systemic delivery of chemotherapy drugs, which may cause side effects such as secondary infection, the release said.