EyeGate Pharma, a company out of Waltham, Massachusetts, has developed a novel ocular drug delivery system that doesn’t use needles or any other invasive techniques. The EyeGate II iontophoresis drug delivery system instead relies on electric current to pull an ionizable drug into the eye. This is achieved by placing an electrode on the forehead of the patient, while having the opposite electrode within the applicator carrying the drug. As the ionized drug liquid is dispensed into the eye, a tiny amount of current is pushed between the electrodes, helping the drug to become absorbed into the eye.
The company just received a utility patent for the iontophoretic contact lens and it’s certainly a novel way of ocular drug delivery unlike anything we’ve seen before. “The issuance of this new patent represents a significant milestone in the development of our proprietary iontophoretic contact lens,” in a published statement said Stephen From, President and Chief Executive Officer of EyeGate. “We believe that this technology, which could enable at-home administration of iontophoretic drugs, has the potential to significantly influence the future of ocular drug delivery by eliminating the need for intravitreal injections and reducing the number of doctor visits. We believe that the iontophoretic contact lens is particularly well-suited for the treatment of chronic retinal conditions, and have selected macular edema, which we believe is a large and underserved market, as our initial target indication.”
According to EyeGate, the device is as comfortable to put on as a contact lens and a typical dosing procedure takes about three minutes to perform by a nurse or other staff. The entire treatment time, from prep to finish, takes about seven minutes per eye.
Check out this video explaining how the EyeGate II device works:
Product page: EyeGate II Delivery System…