New Treatments Are in the Works for Those Living With Dry Eye: Karen Fernandez, MD

New treatments are currently being tested in clinical trials for use in dry eye, according to Karen Fernandez, MD, ophthalmologist at the Storm Eye Institute at the Medical University of South Carolina. These include a blood serum eye drop and prescription contact lenses.

This transcript has been lightly edited; captions are auto-generated.

Transcript

Are there currently any new dry eye treatments in development?

There are some things on the horizon. It's very exciting and hopefully will be with us soon. One is the use of biologic drops. These are drops made from, for example, the patient's own blood serum. This is a fluid that comes from patient's own blood, and it's gets compounded to an eye drop. The theory is that the blood has a lot of what the surface of the eye needs, including proteins, vitamins, growth factors that keep the surface of the eye healthy. We also use amniotic fluid that is then turned into eye drops, and that can also be something that can help with the surface. Bhese 2 things are currently still under investigation. We do already prescribe them, and we all think it's a very acceptable treatment for dry eye. However, there are still a lot of studies that need to be done with these eye drops. There are also improvements in drug delivery systems, including implants that are slow release in the eye, or medicated contact lenses that make treatment a little bit more convenient and easier for patients, and results [in] more consistency in using these drops. There are also neuromodulators that are on the horizon, and this is making use of nerve stimulants to hopefully stimulate the eye to heal itself, as well as increase tear production. Those are the things to look forward to.

There is actually a nasal spray that you can use for dry eye, and it stimulates the nerves within the eye to help produce tears. Those are things that are currently new to the market, new to the treatment. A lot of studies going on about them and seeing if they are effective or they can be part of the protocol for dry eye treatment. But it's very exciting and hopefully we get to see these things come about and we can offer them to patients.