DelSiTech, a drug delivery technology and drug development company based in Turku, has received approval to start clinical trials with an eye drop product it has developed. The product, based on the company’s silica-based eye drop technology, is a once-daily application of the eye drop to the lower eyelid.
The clinical trial, which is conducted in Finland, is investigating the safety and tolerability of the product in healthy volunteers.
“Starting a clinical trial with our own product is a significant milestone for DelSiTech. This is the first time that an eye drop product based on biodegradable silica has been administered to humans. We have invested heavily in the development of this product and the entire technology platform. At the same time, we have developed the company’s organisation so that we can successfully bring our own products to human studies,” says Lasse Leino, CEO of DelSiTech.
According to Leino, long-acting eye drops represent a new way of delivering drugs for the treatment of eye diseases.
“Once-daily eye drops have been shown to increase the treatment tolerance of patients, which improves the efficacy and, of course, the cost-effectiveness of drug therapy. There is a strong global demand for this type of technology, such as the collaboration and licensing agreement announced earlier this year with a Swiss pharmaceutical company to develop long-acting dexamethasone eye drops.”