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news.Aciont, a specialty biopharmaceutical company, has received Phase I SBIR $214K grant from The National Eye Institute (NEI) in conjunction with the Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health to investigate the feasibility of delivery of Avastin and Lucentis to the eye using the Visulex ocular application device.
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Aciont said that the goal of the project is to develop a safe and effective ocular iontophoresis drug delivery system for high molecular weight drugs or macromolecules to treat age related macular degeneration.
Lucentis is an FDA approved drug for the treatment of the wet form of AMD; and Avastin is being used by some retinal specialists as an alternative cost effective, off labeled drug for the same indication.
Aciont stated that this grant enables further study of drug delivery through transscleral iontophoresis, a method of using a mild electrical current to drive drugs through tissues.
Aciont’s grant has several specific aims including the pharmacokinetic, safety and efficacy assessment of the iontophoretic administration of macromolecular drugs to the eye in-vivo.
Aciont added that the project expands upon previous research on ocular iontophoresis conducted by Kevin Li, Sarah Molokhia and William Higuchi.