Solutions for the Eye

Synakis has developed a novel hydrogel biomaterial specifically designed for ocular delivery. Our biomaterial is injectable, biocompatible, biodegradable, non-swelling and transparent. The hydrogel is made of the natural polysaccharide hyaluronan, which is then crosslinked using stable chemistry. We are developing our biomaterial as a vitreous substitute for vitreoretinal surgery and to deliver engineered therapeutics to treat leading causes of blindness.

What is our Technology Used For?

Vitreous Substitute for Vitreoretinal Surgery

The problem: Various retinal conditions, including retinal detachment, require a vitrectomy: surgical removal of the vitreous humor to access and repair the retina. The vitreous is then replaced with a substitute material to tamponade the retina during recovery. Current clinical substitutes – namely gases and silicone oils – cause significant discomfort during patient recovery, including blurred vision, extensive head posturing, risk of glaucoma, revision procedures and/or removal surgeries. As a result, patients are precluded from work, leisure activities, and air travel for several weeks or longer. There is an unmet need for a new biomimetic vitreous substitute to improve patient recovery following retinal surgery.

Our solution: Synakis’ novel hydrogel biomaterial is a promising alternative to the sub-optimal materials currently used in the clinic. Our biomimetic hydrogel is injectable, transparent, biocompatible, biodegradable, non-swelling, and fully compatible with current vitreoretinal surgical procedures. Our biomaterial will allow patients recovering from retinal surgery to see clearly and avoid extensive head posturing, conferring a comfortable recovery and quick return to normal life.

Periocular Delivery of Long-Acting Drug Formulations

The problem: Treatment of glaucoma requires daily administration of therapeutic eye drops, or intracameral implants that require invasive surgery.

Our solution: Synakis has combined our biomaterial with prodrug formulations to deliver a long-acting treatment for glaucoma. Non-invasive administration of our hydrogel into the subconjunctival space provides a prolonged delivery of small molecule therapeutics which obviates the need for daily eye drops or intracameral surgery.

Intravitreal Delivery of Stabilized Biologic Therapeutics

The problem: Use of biologic therapeutics to treat retinal degenerative diseases is hindered by rapid biologic degeneration and poor pharmacokinetics. Frequent intravitreal injections are required to achieve a therapeutic effect.

Our solution: Synakis has combined our biomaterial with state-of-the-art protein engineering techniques to stabilize biologic therapeutics and mediate their extended delivery to the back of the eye. Our technology provides enhanced bioavailability and a prolonged therapeutic window to reduce the frequency of injections.

The science behind our technology has been published in the peer-reviewed literature and is patented.

Publications

Baker, A.E.G. et al. (2021) Stable oxime-crosslinked hyaluronan-based hydrogel as a biomimetic vitreous substitute. Biomaterials, 271, 120750. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2021.120750

Baker, A.E.G. et al. (2019) Benchmarking to the Gold Standard: Hyaluronan-Oxime Hydrogels Recapitulate Xenograft Models with In Vitro Breast Cancer Spheroid Culture. Advanced Materials, 31, 1901166. http://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201901166

Patents

Shoichet, M.S., Baker, A.E.G., Tam, R.Y. (2020) Hydrogel compositions and uses thereof. WO2021000050A1