Hiroyuki Asada

Long-term intraocular pressure reduction with intracameral polycaprolactone glaucoma devices that deliver a novel anti-glaucoma agent

Abstract Long‐term treatment of glaucoma, a major leading cause of blindness, is challenging due to poor patient compliance. Therefore, a drug delivery device that can achieve drug release over several months can be highly beneficial for glaucoma management. Here, we evaluate the long‐term pharmacokinetics and therapeutic efficacy of polycaprolactone intracameral drug delivery devices in rabbit eyes. Our study showed that a single drug delivery device loaded with a proprietary hypotensive agent, DE‐117, reduced intraocular pressure in normotensive rabbits significantly for 23 weeks. In addition, we demonstrated that concentration of DE‐117 and its hydrolyzed active form (hDE‐117) was maintained in the aqueous humor and the target tissue (iris‐ciliary body) up to 24 weeks. Our proof‐of‐concept glaucoma implant shows potential as a long‐term treatment that circumvents patient compliance barriers compared to current treatment via eye drops. Graphical abstract Figure. No Caption available.