Current pharmacotherapy for glaucoma aims to lower intraocular pressure (IOP) to slow disease progression and delay visual field loss. The main glaucoma medications commonly used to lower IOP include: adrenergic modulators, carbonic anhydrase inhibitors and prostaglandin analogs. However, the existing drugs suffer from low efficiency, adverse side effects, and low compliance. Therefore, it is important to develop some novel drugs such as those targeting the trabecular meshwork outflow pathway.
Ace Therapeutics aims to identify new pharmacological options for the treatment of various types of glaucoma. We hope to discover and apply these promising drug candidates to generate a new class of glaucoma therapeutics to fit current drug needs.
Services for Drug Development for Glaucoma
- Gene Therapy Development for Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a complex disease, and currently the only way to maintain patient health is by lowering intraocular pressure. Gene therapy to treat the disease is rapidly evolving. This is a much-needed area of glaucoma treatment that can be applied to a variety of glaucoma types. We provide gene therapy development services for glaucoma, targeting candidate genes related to IOP and RGC, as well as many other related genes and pathways. Specific types of development include, but are not limited to, stem cells, siRNA, ribosomes, and other gene therapies. - Small Molecule Drug Development for Glaucoma
Molecule drug therapy remains an important component of glaucoma treatment. As our understanding of the pathological aspects of glaucoma and the molecular details of the regulatory mechanisms improve, new targets will emerge. Therefore, we are dedicated to discovering possible targets in glaucoma, developing and designing new compounds, and evaluating drug therapies, and we provide researchers and pharmaceutical companies with strategies for molecular drug development in glaucoma. For example, Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) inhibitors and adenosine receptor (AR) ligands. - Drug Delivery System Development for Glaucoma
Drug formulations for glaucoma currently suffer from generally low bioavailability and unsustainable drug release. Therefore, the development of new glaucoma drug delivery systems plays an important role in order to overcome these drawbacks. We provide research services to develop convenient, safe and effective sustained-release drug delivery systems for the efficient treatment of glaucoma. Our services include the development and validation of several new drug delivery systems such as in-situ gels, liposomes, hydrogels, dendrimers, nanoparticles, etc., to explore the impact of these novel drug delivery systems for the treatment of glaucoma.
Our Innovation Directions and Targets
- Increase optic nerve head (ONH) blood flow
- Alter trabecular meshwork (TM) cell contractility
- Increases TM outflow
- Increases uveoscleral outflow
- Decrease aqueous humor (AH) production
Why Choose Our Services
- We have highly interdisciplinary teams that include specialties in biology, chemistry, and medicine.
- Our solid knowledge base of basic glaucoma research will continue to identify new potential targets and research directions.
- We develop widely accepted and robust animal models that utilize simple and accurate methods to assess drug efficacy.
Our long-term goal is to advance the development of new glaucoma drugs, as well as to provide topical, sustained drug delivery and better bioavailability in specific tissues to improve the effectiveness of all types of glaucoma treatments.
Ace Therapeutics supports drug research in glaucoma, please do not hesitate to contact us.
References
- Lu L J, et al. Novel Pharmacologic Candidates for Treatment of Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma. Yale J Biol Med, 2017;90(1):111-118.
- Donegan R K and Lieberman R L. Discovery of molecular therapeutics for glaucoma: challenges, successes, and promising directions: miniperspective. Journal of medicinal chemistry, 2016, 59(3): 788-809.