I am confined to the materials which have been translated into English so this story is lighter on detail than I would prefer. A June 26, 2015 news item on Azonano describes a company which provides a new painless treatment for secondary blindness,
The Mexican company “Medical and Surgical Center for Retina” created a way to transport drugs, in order to avoid risks and painful treatments in people with secondary blindness due to chronic degenerative blindness such as diabetic retinopathy and degeneration of the eye. The innovative formula results eliminates the need to administrate the drug by intraocular injection.
It is a nanotechnology product, which works with last generation liposomes particles, concentrated in droplets, which function as a conveyor that wraps proteins or antibody fragments and allow its passage into the eye. Once inside, it releases the drugs.
With the nanotechnology product the costs are reduced by 80 to 90 percent and enables the elderly population to make use of it. “With this technology hospitals that have no resources can apply the needed drugs, without requiring a a specialist or a particular facility for the administration. It is necessary to be prescribed by a physician, but it can be administered at home, which lowers the cost. “
A June 25, 2015 Investigación y Desarrollo news release on Alpha Galileo, which originated the news item, provides more information about the company and what seems to be a series of clinical trials both current and upcoming,
The doctor Juan Carlos Altamirano Vallejo, medical director of the Medical and Surgical Center for Retina, mentions that the conditions that originate in the retina are mostly caused by chronic degenerative diseases such as diabetes (diabetic retinopathy) or macular alteration . Patients with this conditions usually require one injection per month which comes at a very high cost and increases if the procedure is needed for both eyes.
The company, located in Jalisco (central west state of Mexico) won the Mexican National Prize for Technology and Innovation and plans to conclude the Clinical Research regulated by the Federal Commission for Protection Against Health Risks (COFEPRIS) next year. The idea is for the medicine to be distributed in state and private health institutions. So far, the achieved results are the same as the ones obtained with intraocular injection, but without the inherent risks of this procedure, such as infection or retinal detachment.
Current talks are being held with COFEPRIS to conduct a study within several diseases and increase its use for different conditions. In the United States, patients who have followed the treatment have had positive results.
The Medical and Surgical Center for Retina provides medical care and a specialized retina Ophthalmology Clinic provides consultation, which also has an area of Biotechnology and Drug Research of Biomedical Engineering, Diagnosis and Treatment Equipment.
Altamirano Vallejo says that receiving the award opens the doors to reach more people and prevent blindness. “It is the most important prize delivered by the Presidency of the Republic in the area of technology and innovation. For us, to have an entity such as the award foundation to guide us and allows us to learn, know skills, strengths and company administration makes us proud, specially the opportunity for a product like this to reach the market and prevent blindness.
Back in an Oct. 9, 2014 posting, I wrote about a couple of nanotechnology-enabled eye drop projects and some of the challenges with trying to bypass the eye’s natural protections.
Finally, I was not able to locate the company (without the Spanish language name that’s not likely to be easy) but there is more information about Investigación y Desarrollo here.