The 2008 North American Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation of the Year Award in Ocular Drug Delivery was granted to the company for its work in developing the EyeGate II delivery system.
Frost & Sullivan chose the winner on the basis of its recent analysis of the ocular drug delivery market, praising the company’s faith in the potential of iontophoresis technology.
EyeGate II uses a low-voltage electrical current to mobilise therapeutics to cross through the cells and tissues of the eye. This system overcomes the natural barriers possessed by the eye, allowing a drug to be delivered in greater concentrations to the targeted tissues in the anterior and posterior segments of the eye.
Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Misty Hughes, said: "To ensure consistency and accuracy in administered dosages, the EyeGate II is coulomb-controlled, meaning the device is designed to automatically regulate the delivery of each drug unit by maintaining a constant current in the iontophoretic circuit.
"Additionally, the EyeGate generator can be programmed to deliver drugs at different rates and doses tailored to the specific patient's needs."
In addition EyeGate’s potential to deliver controlled release nanoparticles is now being investigated, which creates the possibility that a single treatment could last months. This would be beneficial to patients suffering from glaucoma and dry eye.
The administration is needle-free and EyeGate believe it could reduce the occurrence of complications associated with ocular treatments, such as retinal damage, infection, and other serious visual disturbances.