IL-1 blockade for the topical treatment of ocular surface inflammatory disorders and the discovery of EBI-005, a novel IL-1 receptor inhibitor

Abstract

There remains a substantial unmet medical need in the treatment of ocular surface inflammatory disorders, such as moderate to severe dry eye disease (DED) and allergic conjunctivitis (AC). Topical ocular IL-1 inhibition has the potential to treat the signs and symptoms of DED and treat other ocular surface inflammatory disorders such as AC. The signs and symptoms of DED are driven by different biological processes but IL-1 is a major mediator of all of these biological processes. This biological validation of IL-1 blockade in ocular surface inflammatory disorders was the basis for the engineering of EBI-005, a potent protein-based IL-1 inhibitor designed for the convenient and effective topical treatment of ocular surface inflammatory diseases such as DED and AC.