What Is Ocular Inflammation?

Ocular inflammation is a response to infection, allergy, autoimmune disease, irritation, injury, or trauma to the eye, eyelid, or surrounding tissue. It is caused by a number of different etiological factors, including allergens, contact lens wear, trauma, environmental factors, lifestyle, etc. According to the cause of inflammation, there are two categories of ocular inflammatory diseases, inflammation-driven diseases and pathological changes (degenerative diseases with a significant inflammatory component). The former include keratitis, conjunctivitis, and uveitis, where inflammation is the primary cause. Dry eye syndrome (DES), glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy (DR) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are classic examples of ocular degeneration associated with inflammation. Nowdays, most immunosuppressants used for ocular inflammatory diseases were originally developed for use in transplant medicine, rheumatology, or other systemic inflammatory diseases. There is hardly any high-level evidence for their use in ocular inflammation, and almost all are used off-label. Therefore, exploring the mechanisms of ocular inflammatory disease and informing treatment decisions for ocular inflammatory diseases will be the focus of future drug development for ocular inflammation.

Fig.1. NSAIDs' and SAIDs' mechanisms of action in the inflammatory cascade. (Mazet R, et al., 2020)

Service Overview

The mainstream treatment of ocular inflammation is mainly steroid therapy. This is a very effective immunosuppression mechanism but exhibits long-term side effects, such as increased intraocular pressure, glaucoma, cataract formation, susceptibility to infection, severe systemic toxicity，etc. As one of the world's leading eye disease solution providers, Ace Therapeutics is moving towards a steroid-free solution. Our talented scientists are dedicated to the development of T-cell inhibitors and anti-tumor factor-alpha drugs. In addition, you will benefit from our advanced ophthalmic drug delivery strategies. These strategies can improve patients' lives by keeping drugs inflamed tissues for long.

Explore Our Capabilities

• Development of T cell inhibitors for ocular inflammation

High-quality scientists from Ace Therapeutics find that the levels of inflammatory cytokines expressed by T lymphocytes in ocular inflammation in animal models, canine dry eye and dry eye patients' conjunctival epithelial cells, conjunctiva and lacrimal gland were significantly increased, which indicates that T Cell-mediated inflammation plays a role in ocular inflammation. Our scientists are working to develop a T cell inhibitor to alleviate ocular inflammation in patients. This agent can directly compete with LFA-1, thereby reducing T cell activation and cytokine release. Throughout the drug discovery process, we rely on our comprehensive drug discovery platform, including X-ray crystallography, computer drug simulation and many other technologies.

• Development of anti-tumor factor-alpha drugs targeting ocular inflammation

TNF-α inhibitors, a key mediator of inflammation, target tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and its receptor. In the eye, TNF-α plays a role in inflammation, edema, neovascularization, and neurodegenerative diseases. Talented scientists from Ace Therapeutics studied a large number of patients with animal models of uveitis. They found that TNF- levels in serum and aqueous humor were significantly increased. Therefore, our scientists are working to develop TNF-alpha inhibitors for uveitis. We provide global customers with a full range of uveitis TNF-α inhibitor solutions. We provide one-stop drug development services, covering the entire process from ophthalmic drug discovery to late drug efficacy testing.

What Can Ace Therapeutics offer?

• Mechanism of action for ophthalmic drugs
• Routine formulation development for ophthalmic drugs

Emulsion
Suspension
Gel
Nano formulation
...

• Ophthalmic drugs characterisation

Sterility test
Characterization of physicochemical properties, including osmotic pressure, pH, rheology, encapsulation efficiency, stability, etc.

• Ophthalmic drugs biological evaluation

Toxicity and biocompatibility testing
Pharmacokinetic studies
Drug efficacy test

Ace Therapeutics' endeavor is to improve patients' lives through the discovery and development of medicines for ocular inflammation. With our deep expertise and highly qualified researchers in T cell inhibitors and TNF-α inhibitors, our expert team provides one-stop ocular inflammation drug development services to global customers.If you are interested in our services or need more detailed information, please feel free to contact us. Our experienced scientists are ready to help you!

References

1. Huerva V, Ascaso FJ, Grzybowski A. Ocular inflammation. Mediators Inflamm. 2015;2015:398076.
2. Mazet R, Yaméogo JBG, Wouessidjewe D, et al. Recent Advances in the Design of Topical Ophthalmic Delivery Systems in the Treatment of Ocular Surface Inflammation and Their Biopharmaceutical Evaluation. Pharmaceutics. 2020 Jun 19;12(6):570.

• Development of Anti-VEGF Therapy for Ocular Diseases

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