Novel Treatment of Retinal Oncology Diseases

The aim of this project is to advance early stage development of a novel drug delivery device and a related drug product for the treatment of cancers in the eye. Ocular cancers affect tens of thousands of lives globally, including the very young and elderly, and often result in loss of vision or spreading of life threatening cancers to other parts of the body. Visual impairment and blindness cause a considerable economic burden for affected persons and caregivers. The ocular drug delivery device is designed to precisely deliver drugs to the specific site of the cancer in the eye. This is done in a less invasive manner than existing treatments and causes significantly less physical trauma to the patient and mitigates the potential to spread the cancers around the patient’s body. The device will be used in combination with a targeted class of drugs, which have been demonstrated to have a potent effect on these ocular cancers. Activities under this project include designing and making prototype devices, developing long lasting formulations containing the specific class of drugs and testing the combinations of drug and delivery device. Once approved, these new treatments will become part of the standard of care for patients with significant unmet needs.