Several significant advances have occurred in dry eye disease (DED) treatment in recent years, according to Amy Lin, MD. Including treatments with novel mechanisms of action and delivery systems. “This news is very exciting for our patients with DED, as there is an ever-expanding armamentarium of options for treatment,” she said.
The latest FDA-approved DED treatments include:
- Eysuvis (loteprednol etabonate ophthalmic suspension 0.25%, Kala Pharmaceuticals)
- Tyrvaya (varenicline solution 0.03 mg, Oyster Point Pharma)
- iTEAR100 (Olympic Ophthalmics).
Eysuvis, which was approved in October 2020 for short-term DED, uses proprietary Ampplify mucus-penetrating technology to improve symptoms and signs of DED. It can be used for acute dry eye flares, as well as for induction therapy when initiating chronic topical anti-inflammatory treatment, Dr. Lin notes.
Various Therapies in the Pipeline
Dr. Lin also pointed to a number of DED therapies still in the pipeline, including CyclASol (0.1% cyclosporine A in EyeSol, Novaliq), SURF-100 (mycophenolate sodium and betamethasone sodium phosphate in Klarity vehicle) and SURF-200 (betamethasone in Klarity vehicle) (both Surface Ophthalmics), Pro-ocular (progesterone gel formulation, Sifi), and OCS-02 (Oculis).
CyclASol, which contains a substantially higher corneal penetration of cyclosporine A in comparison with other oil- or water-based formulations, offered statistically significant improvement in DED signs and symptoms compared with vehicle at 4 weeks during a phase III trial, said Dr. Lin, while Pro-ocular is a progesterone gel applied to the forehead to activate a neural pathway that stimulates lacrimal and meibomian gland function.
