Phototherapeutic Inactivation of Ocular Viruses
A variety of diseases could be significantly controlled using this new treatment for viral ocular infections in humans, including cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis in AIDS patients, herpes keratitis, and viral conjunctivitis. CMV retinitis is the most common ocular opportunistic infection and the leading cause of blindness in patients with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). CMV has been shown to infect 30% of AIDS patients. Two drugs, ganciclovir and foscarnet, are effective in the treatment of CMV retinitis, with 80-100% of patients exhibiting an initial response to therapy with either drug. Both drugs require daily systemic intravenous administration for the rest of the patient's life. Prior to antiviral therapy, AIDS patients with CMV retinitis typically survived only six weeks after developing the infection. In the current setting of anti-HIV therapy as well as anti-CMV therapy, median survival has been shown to be 8.5 months for patients receiving ganciclovir and 12.6 months for patients receiving foscarnet. Reactivation of the retinitis while on therapy has been reported to occur in up to 50% of patients within three months. The fact that the efficacy of anti-CMV agents is measured by their ability to prolong the interval to reactivation, rather than permanent suppression, emphasizes the marginal clinical effectiveness of current intravenous regimens of ganciclovir and foscarnet. A new approach to treatment for improving control of viral retinitis and other ovular viruses while minimizing systemic toxicity using photosensitizing agents is proposed. The objective of the proposed new technique may present a radical departure to current therapy of ocular pathogenic viruses and may result in a significant improvement in the aforementioned potentially blinding group of diseases.Patents:
US 6,586,419
Type of Offer: Licensing
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