Advanced Self­gelling Devices Based on Elastin like Polymers for Ophthalmic Drug Delivery.

BERMUDEZ JOSE; PEREZ DEL RIO EDUARDO; QUINTEROS DANIELA; GIROTTI ALESSANDRA; FERNANDEZ ALICIA; PALMA SANTIAGO; ARIAS JAVIER

Cancun

Congreso; XV Simposio Latinoamericano de Polímeros. XIII Congreso Iberoamericano de Polímeros; 2016

The development of topical ophthalmic formulations for thetreatment of eye diseases such as glaucoma, present a challenge,since most drugs are hardly absorbed, having bioavailabilities from1-10%. Among other factors, such low bioavailability isconsequence of a rapid and extensive loss of the formulation fromthe pre-corneal area due to the turnover of the lacrimal drainage.An alternative to increase the residence time of formulations in thearea of application is the use of gel-based bioadhesive devices1.Taking this into account, here we developed an elastin-like and asilk-elastin like recombinamers2,3, named respectively as ELR andSELR, for their incorporation in an ophthalmic formulation againstglaucoma. Our hypothesis is that due to the thermo-sensitivebehavior of these materials, the formulation could be administeredtopically and once sensing the temperature of the eye, suffer a shiftto a gel system, which could help to prolong the permanence of theformulation in the eye, improve the bioavailability and therefore,could enhance the therapeutic effect