Delivery Approaches

The eye possesses membranes and other barriers that partially isolate it from the rest of the body, making conventional systemic or topical administration of drugs targeted at the retina very inefficient.

Currently, most ocular therapeutics targeted to the back of the eye need to delivered through frequent intravitreal injections. This procedure can be uncomfortable for patients and is associated with a variety of complications, a matter of particular concern since many age-related macular degeneration (AMD) patients may require treatment for the rest of their lives.

Potentia is developing superior alternative delivery technologies to combine with its therapeutic compounds to address these issues. The company is focusing on technologies that are less invasive than the intravitreal injections required for the products currently on the market for wet AMD or that result in sustained levels of drug in the eye of patients for many months after a single treatment.

For example, the POT-4 formulation currently being tested in clinical trials produces a small deposit in the vitreous humor after it is injected. This deposit does not interfere with vision and slowly dissolves over the course of 6 months or more to maintain useful levels of drug in the eye.

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