Hu Yang, Ph.D., and fellow researchers at the Missouri University of Science and Technology have developed a treatment that could eventually enable glaucoma patients to only use eye drops once per week instead of daily, and it should also be more effective than current regimens.
The NEI has awarded $2.5 million in funding over the next five years to advance the new treatment.
Yang has studied glaucoma treatments for more than 14 years and has developed and improved multiple versions of glaucoma medications in the form of eye drops. His latest treatment involves a nanoparticle delivery system that delivers more ophthalmic medications into the eye. With current eye drops, only about 2% of the treatment reaches its targeted location.
“This treatment should make a significant difference for patients with glaucoma, so we obviously would like to see them benefit from it as soon as possible,” he says. “We have worked on this for several years and are highly optimistic about its potential efficacy.”
Yang is the chair of chemical and biomedical engineering at the Missouri University of Science and Technology.