Development of Sustained Drug Release Devices for Posterior Ocular Diseases

Abstract

Suffering from chronic retinal diseases that lead to blindness causes a significant decrease in the quality of life. In addition, retinal diseases are common in the elderly; developing pathological analyses and treatments for retinal diseases has become an urgent issue especially in super-aging countries such as Japan. The principal drug delivery route currently in use is topical eye drop administration, but it delivers only low drug levels to the retina. Although intravitreal delivery allows for high concentrations of a drug to be delivered directly to the retina, the necessary procedure often requires repeated injections that can cause serious side effects. Therefore, transscleral delivery has emerged as a more attractive method for treating retinal disorders because it can deliver a drug locally and is less invasive. Here, a transscleral drug delivery system that is implantable in the episclera and allows for controlled release of various molecular weight drugs will be presented.