A new drug delivery device aims to inject chemotherapy directly into the eye of children with retinoblastoma, replacing treatments that often require removing the eye or flooding the whole body with toxic drugs. Retinoblastoma is a childhood cancer of the eye that can cause blindness or spread fatally to other organs. Current treatments—systemic chemotherapy, radiation, or surgical removal of the eye—are traumatic and carry severe side effects. The device delivers a drug precisely to the tumour site through a less invasive injection, reducing physical trauma and the risk of cancer cells spreading during treatment. If clinical trials succeed, this approach could become the standard of care for retinoblastoma. It would preserve more eyes and vision, lower recurrence rates, and spare children the lifelong consequences of systemic chemotherapy or blindness. The economic burden on families and healthcare systems would also drop. The project combines a novel drug formulation with a specialised injection device, and public funding will carry it through first-in-human trials.
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"The aim of this project is to advance development of a new drug product and drug delivery device for the treatment of Retinoblastoma, a childhood cancer of the eye. This type of ocular cancer affects children globally and often result in loss of vision or spreading of life-threatening cancers to other parts of the body. Visual impairment and blindness cause a considerable economic burden for affected children and caregivers. The ocular drug delivery device is designed to precisely deliver drugs to the specific site of the cancer in the eye. This is done in a less invasive manner than existing treatments and causes significantly less physical trauma to the patient and mitigates the potential to spread the cancers around the patient's body. The drug product aims to deliver safe and robust local treatment while reducing side effects that come from systemic treatments. The critical project outcome is the safe and effective treatment of children with Retinoblastoma measured by eradication of the cancers and reduced rates of recurrence over the current standard of care. Demonstration of the device's clinical effectiveness includes completion of a safe injection procedure and successful delivery of the treatment to a specific location in the eye of Retinoblastoma patients. Fabrication of the device and drug uses highly specialised production mechanisms. The combination of these innovative components along with clinical data will expand an already strong intellectual property position. Public funding will help advance this innovative device through first clinical trials, allowing continued advancement of ocular cancer research programs that could one day become innovative treatments for children with significant unmet needs."
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