Drug delivery to posterior intraocular tissues: third Annual ARVO/Pfizer Ophthalmics Research Institute Conference.

Abstract

The third Annual ARVO/Pfizer Ophthalmic Research Institute Conference was held Friday and Saturday, May 4 and 5, 2007 at the Fort Lauderdale Grande Hotel and Yacht Club, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The conference, funded by the ARVO Foundation for Eye Research through a grant from Pfizer Ophthalmics, provided an opportunity to gather experts from within and outside ophthalmology to develop strategies to address drug delivery to posterior intraocular tissues—a topic of great interest, as the major route of drug delivery is via intravitreous injection. A working group of 33 participants, focused interdisciplinary contributors, 19 observers from ARVO/Pfizer, and clinical and basic ophthalmic researchers convened to identify (1) unmet patient needs regarding current drug delivery, novel treatment of retinal diseases, the potential for novel drug design opportunities, drug delivery methods for targeted localized and sustained release, and delivery of macromolecules (siRNA, DNA); and (2) to evaluate the usefulness of nanoparticles, microbeads, and implants for drug delivery, as well as physical means of drug delivery (ionophoresis, electroporation, and microneedles). Session I: Unmet Needs and New Drug Opportunities in Treating Disorders of the Posterior Segment Session II: Animal Models of Posterior Ocular Diseases Session III: New Drug Design and Delivery Systems: What Do Experts See Beyond the Horizon? Session IV: Ocular Drug Delivery Using Nanoparticles, Microbeads, and Microneedles Session V: Transscleral, Intravitreous, and Suprachoroidal Drug Delivery Session VI: Ocular Tissue Dissection, Modeling, and Ocular Tissue Assays Session VII: Iontophoresis, Electroporation, Electrophoresis, and Photo-acoustic Delivery Each session began with a 10-minute introduction followed by a 30-minute lecture by a distinguished expert. Allan S. Hoffman, ScD, Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington, Seattle, presented “Design of Polymer Carriers for Intracellular Delivery of Biomolecular Drugs” and Mansoor Amiji, RPh, PhD, Professor and Associate Chairman of Pharmaceutical Science at Northeastern University (Boston, MA), presented “Nanotechnology for Advanced Drug Delivery.” During the remainder of each session, participants, and attendees discussed pertinent questions, voiced opinions, and identified unanswered questions. These discussions confirmed current and future needs for ocular drug delivery to the posterior segment.