Extended Release Bandage Contact Lenses for Antibacterial and Anti-Inflammatory Therapeutics

Conventional topical ocular therapies control approximately 90% of the $4.5 billion US ophthalmic drug market. However, there's still an unmet need in the ocular therapeutic market for effective drug delivery. We have rationally designed and synthesized novel contact lenses that provide a more effective method of ocular therapy capable of tailorable loading and extended release of antibiotic and anti-inflammatory medication for the treatment of bacterial keratitis and ocular inflammations, respectively. Hydrogels are synthesized with macromolecular memory for the therapeutic, with a cocktail of FDA-approved methacrylate and acrylate monomers that provided similar side-chain functionalities to amino acids present within the biological mechanism of action and/or binding pockets of the drug. These biomimetic hydrogels have advantage over hydrogels created without recognition by displaying at least a two-fold increase in drug loading while still offering mechanical and optical properties comparable to conventional contact lenses. Dynamic drug release profiles were performed under in vitro physiological conditions and demonstrated that release rates can be tailored to provide a sustained release in artificial lacrimal fluid. Structural and compositional parametric studies were conducted to optimize loading and extend release by synthesizing hydrogels with varying monomer functionality, monomer to template drug ratios, and crosslinking monomer concentration and length.