Novel implant may provide programmable, customized delivery of medication

Rohit Varma

PARIS — A novel, programmable, refillable drug delivery device may be able to provide sustained, customized drug treatment for glaucoma and other chronic ocular conditions, according to a physician.

Finding an effective way of addressing adherence is one of the unmet needs of glaucoma therapy, Rohit Varma, MD, said at the World Glaucoma Congress here.

“Also, it may not be the overall level of IOP, but how much of a change in IOP there is in the 24 hours and over a period of days, weeks and months,” he said.

The delivery device that Dr. Varma developed over the past 5 years is similar in size and implantation site to the Ahmed implant (New World Medical) and may become available on the market in a few years.

“By providing sustained delivery of any wanted drug inside the eye, it will overcome the problem of compliance and also any ocular surface issue that is normally related to eye drops. Because drug dosage will be optimized and minimized, also other systemic effects that drugs normally have will be greatly reduced,” he said.

New features specific to this delivery device are that it is refillable and that the rate of drug delivery can be changed according to disease progression. Modulation of drug delivery according to IOP fluctuations in a 24-hour period may also be possible.

“Drugs can be delivered at a programmable rate. What we are trying to do is to link it to an IOP sensor to address the issue of IOP fluctuation,” Dr. Varma said.

Disclosure: Dr. Varma serves on the scientific advisory board for Replenish Inc. and has an equity interest.