SCOPE Health Inc. and the Centre for Eye and Vision Research (CEVR) are collaborating to develop and commercialize technologies targeting dry eye disease (DED) and ocular surface conditions.
The duo recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish this new partnership.
Let’s start with these collaborators.
First up: SCOPE.
Launched in 2009, this international healthcare company provides products geared toward managing OSD and age-related macular degeneration.
Next: CEVR.
Based in Hong Kong, CEVR is a research collaboration between The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the University of Waterloo in Canada.
Its mission: To generate technologies for preventing vision loss in the aging adult population as well as preserve healthy vision.
- Most notably: This collaborative is the first global hub performing groundbreaking research in five key areas of ocular health:
- Myopia and eye growth
- Ocular drug discovery and delivery
- Vision enhancement
- Tear film and ocular surface
- Advanced optometric technology
Next, let’s talk about the focus of this partnership.
The collaborators will be focusing on:
- SCOPE’s expertise in eye drop product formulation science
- CEVR’s experience in ocular drug discovery and translational research
Leading the charge will be two CEVR principal investigators and the head of Ideation & Discovery at SCOPE, respectively:
Give me specifics on these, starting with SCOPE.
The company’s expertise in dry eye drops extends to its OPTASE brand of dry eye management products.
Looking specifically at eye drops: Check out our recent coverage of the Optase Allegro Eye Drops, a preservative-free formulation for dry eye that features a key ingredient that provides a protective hydration shield against harmful environmental irritants.
- These eye drops are part of a customized treatment management plan OPTASE provides to maximize dry eye symptom relief while also “managing the underlying conditions that can contribute to and worsen” a diagnosis over time.
And what does this management plan entail?
The three-step process includes:
- Applying heat
- Via an eye mask on a daily basis to unclog oils in the eyelids (key to health tear film formation)
- Hydrating
- Using a preservative-free eye drop or spray to hydrate the surface of the eye and restore balance to the tear film
- Cleansing
- Keeping the eyelids and lid margin clean on a daily basis to ensure no bacteria or debris that could obstruct healthy tear film formation.
Now to CEVR’s research.
Zeroing in on ocular drug discovery and delivery, CEVR’s program is working to address ocular barriers standing in the way of delivering drugs to the anterior and posterior segments of the eye.
Its focus: Developing novel methods for delivering drugs to the eye as well as technologies that enable drugs to penetrate the eye’s surface.
- See here for the list of 14 principal investigators involved in this research.
So what is CEVR expecting to take from this collaboration?
Primarily engagement in dry eye management at the practice level and an increase in global outreach by delivering “tangible change.”
CEVR CEO and Scientific Director Ben Thompson, PhD, stated that the collaboration will advance CEVR’s mission to develop technologies that preserve and enhance vision worldwide.
“This partnership merges cutting-edge science with formulation and commercialization expertise, paving the way for a transformative solution to support developing technologies that preserve and enhance healthy vision worldwide,” stated Thompson.
Any comments from SCOPE?
SCOPE CEO Tom Freyne noted that the collaboration’s goal of “disrupting the status quo and establishing a new standard of care for ocular surface diseases (OSD) requires collective efforts.”
Can you get into specifics on exactly what technologies they’ll be developing?
Unfortunately, not at this time—we’ve shared all we know.
However, as this collaboration kicks off and gets underway, we’ll likely learn more about what’s under development in the near future.
And in the meantime, check out what other innovations have been up to recently in the drug delivery department.