One Week Sustained In Vivo Therapeutic Release and Safety of Novel Extended-Wear Silicone Hydrogel Contact Lenses.

Since the seminal work of Wichterle in 1965 describing the first soft contact lenses and their potential for ocular drug delivery, the field has yet to realize his vision. Maintaining all lens commercial properties combined with a mechanism for controlled drug release of therapeutically relevant concentrations for duration of wear is a major challenge. Here, successful in vivo week-long sustained release of a small molecular weight therapeutic in rabbits from extended-wear silicone hydrogel contact lenses meeting all commercial specifications by utilizing a novel macromolecular memory strategy is reported for the first time.

In vivo drug delivery via contact lenses: The current state of the field from origins to present.

Over the past half century, contact lenses have been investigated for their potential as drug delivery devices for ocular therapeutics. Hundreds of studies have been published in the pursuit of the most effective and efficient release strategies and methods for contact lens drug delivery. This paper provides a thorough overview of the various contact lens drug delivery strategies, with a specific, comprehensive focus on studies that have been published since the field began in 1965.