Drug delivery firm pSivida ($PSDV) took another step toward expanding its back-of-the-eye drug delivery platform, launching a trial for a posterior uveitis treatment.
The ailment is the third leading cause of blindness, Mass High Tech reports, and pSivida's method treats the disease by releasing a steroid into the back of the eye with its Durasert platform. The company's device, about the size of an eyelash, is injected into the back of the eye, where it settles in and emits a consistent amount of the drug over a period of three years.
The treatment is already available in the EU, and the latest trial is U.S.-based and designed to get FDA approval for the drug.
The company has been riding high on Durasert of late, as it secured U.K. approval for Iluvien, a Durasert-delivered macular edema treatment, in May, and pSivida's stock price nearly doubled after it announced two marketing partnerships for applications of its delivery platform. Last year, the firm made headlines with its deal with Pfizer ($PFE), partnering with the pharma giant to develop a back-of-the-eye glaucoma treatment in a pact worth up to $169 million.
- read Mass High Tech's report
- check out pSivida's release