Study: PEGs are appropriate support to extend ocular pharmacokinetics of conjugated drugs

RxGen and ProLynx LLC, says data from a study performed in healthy adult African green monkeys shows that polyethylene glycols (PEGs) are appropriate supports to extend ocular pharmacokinetics of conjugated drugs.

The study first evaluated the pharmacokinetics of intravitreally delivered fluorescein-labeled 20- to 80-kDa linear PEGs, and two, three and four arm 40 kDa PEGs. The fluorescein-PEG conjugates exhibited prolonged retention with half-lives of about five days that was not highly dependent on PEG size or shape and had no apparent adverse effects. With the identification of PEGs as appropriate carrier molecules for ocular delivery, ProLynx self-cleaving linkers were then used to attach fluorescent drug surrogates to demonstrate slow, controlled intravitreal release of the drug surrogate from the PEG support over time.

“These results show that binding drugs by ProLynx's self-cleaving linkers to biodegradable macromolecules present a promising strategy for controlled, sustained ocular drug delivery,” says RxGen CEO Matthew Lawrence, MD, PhD.