Australasian drug company AFT Pharmaceuticals has announced results from a post-market study of licensed dry eye therapy NovaTears + Omega-3, stating it is a significantly effective treatment for the evaporative form of the disease.
The eye drop is produced by German firm Novaliq and is said to be the first that combines the tear film stabiliser perfluorohexyloctane with a high quality, vegan-sourced Omeg-3 fatty acid.
According to AFT, which is licensed to distribute the therapy in Australia and New Zealand, the recent multi-centre, single arm, post-market clinical follow-up study was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of NovaTears + Omega-3 (0.2%) eye drops on signs and symptoms of dry eye.
It was shown to deliver clinically relevant and statistically significant improvements in dry eye symptoms in 36 patients over eight weeks, the company reported.
“The improvements were evident on a broad range of measures including total corneal staining (NEI scale) and tear film break-up time (TFBUT) over the course of the study,” AFT stated.
“Of particular interest was the meibomian gland assessment (MGD) score which improved from an entry level score of 7.1 to 3.0 (p<0.0001) over the course of the study. The latter result supports the hypothesis that the treatment might liquify meibum secretion excreted from the meibomian glands.”
According to AFT, the 2020 Vision Index showed 77% of Australians have experienced dry eye, with more than 85% suffering from some form of evaporative dry eye. But there are currently limited medicines available to specifically target this form of the disease and relieve symptoms, which include reddened and inflamed eyes and eyelid margins or encrusted eyelids.
AFT managing director Dr Hartley Atkinson said since launching Novaliq’s NovaTears in 2018 and NovaTears + Omega-3 in 2020, demand for the products had grown rapidly.
“In the last year alone, we have moved from the number three to number two position in the lubrication eyecare category in Australia with sales growth from the NovaTears range contributing to our growth,” he said.
“This study confirms what our customers already know: NovaTears + Omega-3 and NovaTears are effective treatments that deliver significant improvements in the symptoms of dry eye disease.”
Novaliq managing director and CEO Dr Christian Roesky said the company was focused on developing and commercialising first-and best-in-class ocular therapeutics.
He was delighted with the study results that “further affirm our confidence in NovaTears + Omega-3 and clinical value we bring to patients”.
“The product is the only one of its type available and it highlights the success of our drive to provide enhanced solutions for addressing dry eye. We are delighted our partner AFT has been so successful in bringing our products to people in Australasia.”
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