Value Proposition
· Reducing the number of daily eye drop doses required for therapeutic effect in the posterior chamber
· Limited systemic absorption of medication delivered via topical eyedrops
Unmet Need
· The mainstay of medication delivery to the eye remains topical eye-drops. While intravitreal injections have been used to deliver treatment to the posterior segment of the eye, there remains very few options for topical administration of drugs targeting the retina. Injections pose infection and discomfort risk, and patient compliance with daily drops is challenging. Thus, there is a need for a method of topical medication delivery for drugs that treat the posterior segment of the eye.
Technology Description
· Current standard methods of drug delivery to the posterior chamber either rely on passive flow of medication through the entirety of the eye or require invasive injection of materials in the intravitreal space. Researchers at Johns Hopkins have developed a technology that combines gel-forming eyedrops with machine-learning designed peptide-drug conjugates that allow for targeted and sustained delivery of drugs to the retina.
Stage of Development
· In vivo mouse model trials have been completed. Work shows effective and sustained release of a therapeutic targeting retinal ganglion cells. Researchers have demonstrated that this technology effectively doubles the therapeutic window of retinal-targetting medications compared to topical administration alone.
· Current efforts focus on clinical validation.
Data Availability
· Data available upon request.
Publication
Hsueh TH, Chou RT, Rai U, Liyanage WS, Appell MB, Davison C, Kolodziejski P, Mozzer A, Leo KT, Kwon HY, Kim YC, Pitha I, Hanes J, Cummings MP, Ensign LM. Machine learning-driven multifunctional peptide engineering for sustained ocular drug delivery, Nat Comm, 2023;14:2509
