WALTHAM, Mass., Sept. 13, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EyeGate Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:EYEG) (“EyeGate” or the “Company”), a specialty pharmaceutical company that focuses on developing and commercializing products for treating diseases and disorders of the eye, today announced that Jade Therapeutics, Inc. (“Jade”), a wholly owned subsidiary of EyeGate, has received the second year of funding of $448,185 from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) to continue the development of its proprietary thiolated hyaluronic acid (CMHA-S) for use as an ocular bandage film entitled “Novel Hyaluronic Acid Delivery Polymer for Repair of Ocular Injuries”. The second year of funding brings the total awarded to Jade under the U.S. Army’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to $1.25 million. This work is supported by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command under Contract No. W81XWH-14-C-0025.
“We are extremely grateful to the USAMRMC and Department of Defense for this grant, which provides non-dilutive funding that will allow us to continue our preclinical work to assess the potential of CMHA-S film as a treatment for ocular surface injuries. In addition to enhanced healing, which has been demonstrated in the liquid formulation of CMHA-S, we believe that the film formulation of the product can act as a protective bandage and barrier to adhesion,” said Barbara Wirostko, M.D., EyeGate’s Chief Medical Officer. “Our novel, polymer-based room temperature stable ocular surface bandage can be applied immediately at the time of eye injury to treat both acute and chronic ocular surface conditions, with the potential to greatly reduce post-incident complications which could lead to permanent eye injury or blindness. The product has the potential to benefit both the military and civilian populations not only as a treatment for traumatic injury, but also as a bandage for ocular surface defects, inflammation, corneal damage and other conditions.”
EyeGate uses a biocompatible hydrogel material for repairing the ocular surface and for sustained drug delivery to enhance the treatment of ophthalmic disorders and improve visual outcomes for both the military and civilian populations. The Company’s proprietary CMHA-S films require infrequent application, without the need for suturing and/or tissue glue and are easy to apply in an urgent-care setting, even when the orbit has been compromised.
This Phase II SBIR grant will enable EyeGate to determine the critical properties and characteristics of the polymer. Thus far the Company has achieved several important preclinical milestones, including molding of films based on computational modeling, fabrication of prototype molds, initiation of Quality management systems, and CMC fabrication processes and the development and approval of an in vivo dog study.
About EyeGate Pharmaceuticals:
EyeGate is a clinical-stage specialty pharmaceutical company that is focused on developing and commercializing products for treating diseases and disorders of the eye. The EGP-437 combination product, EyeGate’s first and only product in clinical trials, incorporates a reformulated topically active corticosteroid, Dexamethasone Phosphate that is delivered into the ocular tissues through EyeGate’s proprietary innovative drug delivery system, the EyeGate® II Delivery System. In addition, EyeGate is developing, through its wholly-owned Jade subsidiary, products using cross-linked thiolated carboxymethyl hyaluronic acid (“CMHA-S”), a modified form of the natural polymer hyaluronic acid (HA), which possesses unique physical and chemical properties such as hydration and healing properties. The ability of CMHA-S to adhere longer to the ocular surface, resist degradation and protect the ocular surface makes it well-suited for treating various ocular surface injuries. EyeGate intends to initiate a clinical study for Jade’s lead product candidate for corneal epithelial defects by year-end 2016. For more information, please visit www.EyeGatePharma.com.
Safe Harbor Statement:
Some of the statements in this press release are “forward-looking” and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These “forward-looking” statements include statements relating to, among other things, the commercialization efforts and other regulatory or marketing approval efforts pertaining to EyeGate’s products, including EyeGate’s EGP-437 combination product and those of Jade, a wholly owned subsidiary of EyeGate, as well as the success thereof, with such approvals or success may not be obtained or achieved on a timely basis or at all. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause results to differ materially from the statements set forth in this press release, including, among other things, certain risk factors described under the heading “Risk Factors” contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 30, 2016, and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, as filed with the SEC on August 10, 2016 or described in our other public filings. Our results may also be affected by factors of which we are not currently aware. The forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. EyeGate expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to such statements to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any changes in the events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.