Technology: US and them

As a place for spotting developments in eye care that may have some future impact on the way we work, the annual AAO conference is hard to beat. Here is a small selection of what caught my eye this year.

Affecting well over 1.8 billion people worldwide, presbyopia is a major cause of sight loss that currently requires correction from spectacles, contact lenses or surgery; each with challenges. So, there is some interest in a new topical drug from Novartis which aims to restore elasticity to the stiffening presbyopic crystalline lens. The stiffening is thought to be linked with increasing disulphide bonds within the lens. The new prodrug, UNR844, is a novel ester of lipoic acid and choline which penetrates the cornea to reach the lens where enzymes reduce the lipoic acid to dihydrolipoic acid. This then breaks down disulphide bonds and reduces lens stiffening. Early phase trials presented at conference show good safety and improved near vision after 210 days from treatment.