Canadian researchers have developed a more effective and longer-lasting treatment for glaucoma eye disease, in a study with rats. 

Glaucoma – 10% of all blindness worldwide – damages the optic nerve due to high pressure in the eye, caused by the build-up of fluid. While there is no cure, current treatments rely on the frequent application of eye drops to slow the progress of the disease. 

Researchers at EARA member, the University of Toronto, produced colloidal aggregates – tiny clusters of timolol, a commonly used eye drop drug to treat glaucoma – and merged them into a hydrogel, a sponge-like material that allows the drug to remain in the eye for longer while being slowly released. 

Rats that received a single injection of the hydrogel, under their eyelid, saw reduced eye pressure for a much longer period of time than timolol eye drops. The slower release of the hydrogel also reduced drug levels in the blood, which minimised the potential side effects in other organs. 

Molly Shoichet, lead researcher of the study published in Advanced materials, said: “This formulation could be injected.. and effectively lower eye pressure in a rat model – a key aspect of glaucoma treatment – for seven weeks instead of the usual six hours. That’s 200 times longer!”