This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
New drug effective, well tolerated in patients with allergic conjunctivitis
An interleukin-1 receptor inhibitor significantly improved ocular itching, tearing and nasal symptoms in allergic conjunctivitis patients, according to a study recently published in Eye & Contact Lens.
The treatment, EBI-005, was also well tolerated in patients in the phase 2 study.
Goldstein and colleagues conducted a randomized, double-masked, vehicle-controlled study of 159 participants with moderate to severe allergic conjunctivitis (AC). Participants randomly received either topical EBI-005 (5 mg/mL) or a control drug three times a day. They were also challenged with allergen via two adapted clinical models: the Environmental Exposure Chamber (EEC), an aerosolized challenge in an allergy chamber, and the Conjunctival Allergen Provocation Test (CAPT), a direct conjunctival allergen challenge.
Results showed statistically significant improvement in nasal symptoms and ocular tearing in both the CAPT and EEC challenges. Participants had statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in ocular itching in the CAPT challenge. Researchers noted that the primary endpoint of ocular itching was not met in the EEC challenge.
They concluded that EBI-005 demonstrated promising results for patients with moderate to severe AC.
"In this study of subjects with moderate-to-severe AC, EBI-005 demonstrated clinically meaningful, statistically significant biological activity in improving patient symptoms (ocular itching, tearing and total nasal symptoms) over a longer duration than has previously been shown and over multiple time points post challenge," they wrote. "EBI-005 was generally safe and well tolerated in this study. EBI-005 may provide a clinically meaningful anti-inflammatory effect without the side effects seen with steroids." – by Chelsea Frajerman Pardes
Disclosure: Goldstein is employed by Eleven Biotherapeutics.