This lens delivers anti-allergy medication directly into the eye!
This could revolutionize the treatment of several eye diseases such as cataracts or even glaucoma. The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has in fact given the green light for the prescription of a contact lens capable of delivering drugs… directly into the eye!
This lens was designed and produced by the giant Johnson & Johnson in order to fight against eye allergies, which can seriously handicap the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world. Treatments exist, but they often consist of injecting drops into the eye at a fixed time, which is never very practical (especially since the temporary side effects can be particularly troublesome).
Visually (ahem…), this lens looks like a conventional prescription lens, except that it contains the antihistamine ketotifen which escapes to the eye thanks to the polymer structure of the lens. The drug dilutes in the eye as it gradually passes through the nano-cavities of the lens, which in stage 3 clinical studies has been shown to decrease the effects of allergies in just minutes, and knowing that the drug then takes effect for a good dozen hours!
Johnson and Johnson’s medicated (or therapeutic) lens is already available (by prescription) in Canada, Japan, and therefore now in the United States.
