UCSF

Glaucoma is a major leading cause of irreversible blindness. While glaucoma patients can greatly benefit from control of intraocular pressure (IOP) via hypotensive eye drops, physiological barriers and low patient compliance pose a great challenge to effective glaucoma therapy. Here, I present the development of a biodegradable intracameral implant that provides controlled release of a hypotensive agent for more than 6 months. The implant, made from polycaprolactone (PCL) and loaded with a hypotensive drug, was able to reduce IOP in normotensive rabbits for 23 weeks when implanted in the intracameral space. Evaluation of area under the curve of IOP measurements shows a significant difference in cumulative IOP reduction between eyes that received drug-loaded or empty device implantation. Furthermore, I demonstrate the potential of delivering two drugs with a single device as a means of long-term glaucoma combination therapy for patients who do not respond to monotherapy of hypotensive agent. Lastly, blends of low and high molecular weight PCL have been explored to achieve shorter time to fragmentation to tune degradation of PCL to meet the desired lifecycle of a glaucoma intracameral implant. In summary, the proof-of-concept drug delivery device shows promise as a potential mode of long-term glaucoma therapy based on its evaluation in vitro and in vivo.