Development of an Oral Treatment for Dry AMD Using Everyday Anti-Inflammatory Drugs

Hijack the natural vitamin A transportation system to deliver anti-inflammatory drugs in the retina as a treatment for dry age macular degeneration.

Numerous ocular barriers prevent the accumulation of drugs in the eye and limit the development of treatments for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This proposal aims to leverage the natural transportation system of vitamin A in the eye to deliver anti-inflammatory drugs (i.e., aspirin, ibuprofen) selectively in the retina to suppress the inflammation associated with AMD. My method uses oral drug administration and moves away from the risks and burdens associated with intraocular injections of drugs, which are the standard method of drug administration for treating AMD.

A. My project is the first rational attempt to hijack the transportation system of vitamin A into the eye to deliver drugs after systemic administration.
B. My project leverages the unique eye-targeting properties of visual cycle modulators to establish a new class of non-steroid anti inflammatory drugs to treat dry age-related macular degeneration.
C. My pro-drug strategy expands the range of acidic drugs that can be transported into the eye, paving the way to the development of new treatments for retinal diseases.

Presently, only a handful of drugs approved for use in humans can be used to treat retinal diseases, mostly requiring invasive intraocular injections for drug administration.

My results will constitute the first documented case of exploiting the vitamin A trafficking machinery present in our bodies as a way to overcome the numerous ocular barriers that impede targeting drugs to the retina after oral or systemic administration.

Consequently, the drug delivery platform that I will develop in my research project shall expand the range of drugs that can be delivered to the retina for the treatment on numerous retinal diseases.