Drug eluting contact lenses 'worthy of investigation' for release of myopia drugs

DENVER – The combination of atropine and pirenzepine with commercial hydrogel and silicone hydrogel contact lenses may warrant further investigation, according to a presenter here at the American Academy of Optometry meeting.

Alex Hui, OD, PhD, stated that combining pharmaceuticals and contact lenses has received growing interest.

"None of the currently available studies have been able to arrest the progression of myopia," he said.

Hui and colleagues designed a study to assess whether a combination device would be effective.

Researchers evaluated six daily disposable contact lenses and two daily disposable multifocal contact lenses. The lenses were soaked in 1% and 0.1% concentrations of atropine and pirenzepine for 24 hours, Hui described.

"We were able to show that there are various uptakes and releases from these different types of drugs and these commercial materials, but none of them were able to sustain any type of release," Hui reported. "We could see potential for these commercial lenses that are completely unmodified to be used in this controlled context if we use it in a daily disposable form."

In the abstract, the researchers discussed the potential of the drug eluting lenses.

“With recent clinical trials on myopia control demonstrating partial reduction in progression using multifocal contact lenses or pharmacological treatments, a treatment strategy which combines the two techniques is a next logical development,” they wrote. “This work suggests that such an approach is worthy of investigation, if rapid delivery of small amounts of drug are sufficiently synergistic with the impact of lens design. Hydrogel materials appear more promising than silicone hydrogels.”

Hui concluded: "You can envision a child wearing a lens that has been preloaded with this particular drug where they get the doses that they need to control the myopia pharmacologically as well as using the bifocals throughout the course of the day and disposing of them at the end of the night and using a new lens the next day."

Disclosure: The study was supported by NSERC Canada. Over the past 3 years, members of the Centre for Contact Lens Research have received research funding and/or honoraria from the following companies: Advanced Vision Research, Alcon, AlgiPharma, Allergan, CIBA Vision, Contamac US, CooperVision, Essilor, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Ocular Dynamics LLC, Oculus, Ocusense, TearScience and Visioneering Technologies.