The PK-Eye: A Novel In Vitro Ocular Flow Model for Use in Preclinical Drug Development

A 2-compartment in vitro eye flow model has been developed to estimate ocular drug clearance by the anterior aqueous outflow pathway. The model is designed to accelerate the development of longer-acting ophthalmic therapeutics. Dye studies show aqueous flow is necessary for a molecule injected into the vitreous cavity to clear from the model. The clearance times of proteins can be estimated by collecting the aqueous outflow, which was first conducted with bevacizumab using phosphate-buffered saline in the vitreous cavity. A simulated vitreous solution was then used and ranibizumab (0.5 mg) displayed a clearance time of 8.1 ± 3.1 days, which is comparable to that observed in humans. The model can estimate drug release from implants or the dissolution of suspensions as a first step in their clearance mechanism, which will be the rate-limiting step for the overall resident time of a candidate dosage form in the vitreous. A suspension of triamcinolone acetonide (Kenalog®) (4.0 mg) displayed clearance times spanning 26-28 days. These results indicate that the model can be used to determine in vitro-in vivo correlations in preclinical studies to develop long-lasting therapeutics to treat blinding diseases at the back of the eye.

Pharmacokinetics, biocompatibility and bioavailability of a controlled release monoclonal antibody formulation

The sustained and localized delivery of monoclonal antibodies has become highly relevant, because of the increasing number of investigated local delivery applications in recent years. As the local delivery of antibodies is associated with high technological hurdles, very few successful approaches have been reported in the literature so far. Alginate-based delivery systems were previously described as promising sustained release formulations for monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). In order to further investigate their applicability, a single-dose animal study was conducted to compare the biocompatibility, the pharmacokinetics and the bioavailability of a human monoclonal antibody liquid formulation with two alginate-based sustained delivery systems after subcutaneous administration in rats. 28 days after injection, the depot systems were still found in the subcutis of the animals. A calcium cross-linked alginate formulation, which was injected as a hydrogel, was present as multiple compartments separated by subcutaneous tissue. An in situ forming alginate formulation was recovered as a single compact and cohesive structure. It can be assumed that the multiple compartments of the hydrogel formulation led to almost identical pharmacokinetic profiles for all tested animals, whereas the compact nature of the in situ forming system resulted in large interindividual variations in pharmacokinetics. As compared to the liquid formulation the hydrogel formulations led to lower mAb serum levels, and the in situ forming system to a shift in the time to reach the maximum mAb serum concentration (Tmax) from 2 to 4 days. Importantly, it was shown that after 28 days only marginal amounts of residual mAb were present in the alginate matrix and in the tissue at the injection site indicating nearly complete release. In line with this finding, systemic drug bioavailability was not affected by using the controlled release systems. This study successfully demonstrates the suitability and underlines the potential of polyanionic systems for local and controlled mAb delivery.

Sustained release of Avastin® from polysaccharides cross-linked hydrogels for ocular drug delivery

Avastin(®) was the first choice drug for the treatment of age related macular degeneration (AMD) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy in clinic. Due to its short half-time in intraocular, it was required repeat administration. In this paper, an in situ injectable polysaccharides cross-linked hydrogel was developed for potential ocular drug delivery of avastin. The polysaccharide cross-linked hydrogel was first synthesized by simple mixing of glycol chitosan and oxidized alginate aqueous solution, and then characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and rheometer. In vitro degradation test indicated that the degradation rate of hydrogels could be controlled by the varying the content of oxidized alginate in hydrogels. In vitro release study showed that the encapsulated avastin had an initial burst release at early stage (within 4 h) followed by a sustained release manner in period of 3 days. With the increase of oxidized alginate concentration in the hydrogel, the release rate of avastin from hydrogels declined accordingly. Meanwhile, the structure stability of avastin released from hydrogels at specific time intervals did not show apparent changes as compared with native avastin based on the analysis of SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAEG). As a result, the developed in situ injectable polysaccharides cross-linked hydrogel with controllable degradation rate and drug release might be a versatile carrier for avastin to apply in ocular drug delivery.