News Room

In laboratory testing, the prototype lenses dispensed ciprofloxacin (an antibiotic often used in eyedrops) for 30 days, the longest duration for which contact lenses are currently approved by the FDA; in some tests, the lenses continued releasing drug for up to 100 days. The amounts dispensed were sufficient to kill pathogens in a laboratory assay.

Kohane and Ciolino see applications in conditions such as glaucoma and dry-eye which require frequent daily eye drops. They have begun to test the lens in animals and plan to begin human testing as soon as possible. The technology recently won the Life Sciences track in MIT's 100K Entrepreneurship Competition.

Citation: Ciolino JB, Hoare TR, Iwata NG, et al. A drug-eluting contact lens. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2009; 50:3346-52.

Contact:
Jamie Newton
617-919-3110
james.newton@childrens.harvard.edu

Children's Hospital Boston is home to the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, where its discoveries have benefited both children and adults since 1869. More than 500 scientists, including eight members of the National Academy of Sciences, 11 members of the Institute of Medicine and 12 members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute comprise Children's research community. Founded as a 20-bed hospital for children, Children's Hospital Boston today is a 397-bed comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care grounded in the values of excellence in patient care and sensitivity to the complex needs and diversity of children and families. Children's also is the primary pediatric teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. For more information about the hospital and its research visit:www.childrenshospital.org/newsroom.