As the number of patients with dry eye syndrome is rapidly increasing by 20% each year due to excessive use of smartphones, research for the development of new technologies to deliver relief using contact lenses is set to begin.
According to CNU, the research team of Professor Yoon Kyung-chul (Department of Ophthalmology) was selected for the 2020 Core Technology Development Project for Bio Industries, governed by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology. The research team will develop a highly efficient drug-delivery technology using contact lenses with a total budget of 3.6 billion KRW, including 2.6 billion KRW from governmental funds and 1 billion KRW from private investment over the next five years.
More specifically, the project, which is based on the development of a pH-sensitive drug-delivery contact lens for improving eye dryness aims to develop technology to attach a drug substance which is capable of relieving dryness to contact lenses and to help maintain effective visual concentration for a long time.
Conventional eye drops have low drug permeability and a short residence time. In addition, contact lenses have displayed additional shortcomings as they cannot guarantee long-lasting drug release or stability in distribution.
In using this new technique, the loaded drug is not lost in the pH 5.5 preservative, and when it reaches a pH of 7.4 after being applied to the eyes, drug release begins and is maintained consistently.
The research will be conducted by Professor Yoon Kyung-chul, the team’s general manager, while Professor Kim Ho-jung (Department of Chemistry, Chosun University) will be in charge of the development of drug-delivery materials, and the Nano Bio Research Center of the Jeonnam Bioindustry Foundation (research manager: Moon Myung-jae) will conduct the assessment of materials and products. In addition to contributions, Wins Inc. will produce the prototype and Huons Co., Ltd. will undertake the license and commercialization process of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
