EyeGate Pharmaceuticals has secured a patent from the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for its iontophoretic contact lens technology.
It is claimed to be the first issued patent covering the iontophoretic contact lens.
The patent is related to a multi-layer contact lens for ocular therapy, featuring a reservoir adapted to contain an electrically-charged therapeutic compound and an electrode providing ionophoretic current to the charged compound to propel it into the ocular tissue.
The iontophoretic contact lens offers an easy and potentially enhanced technique for delivery of therapeutics to the retina.
EyeGate president and CEO Stephen From said the issuance of the new patent represents a significant milestone in the development of the company's iontophoretic contact lens.
From said: “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.”
EyeGate had recently submitted an amended investigational device exemption (IDE) application to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a pilot study of its product the EyeGate Ocular Bandage Gel (EyeGate OBG), which is a cross-linked thiolated carboxymethyl hyaluronic acid (CMHA-S) platform.
The amendment includes the company’s responses to the FDA’s questions and comments to the original IDE submission.
The company is developing EyeGate OBG to speed up the re-epithelialization of large corneal epithelial defects in patients who have undergone photorefractive keratectomy (PRK).
The amendment includes validation data on the manufacturing processes and bioburden tests pertaining to the production of Eyegate OBG. It also includes the data related to the analytical methods that help in identifying and quantifying impurities and degradation products.