New FDA-Approved Contact Lens Delivers Antihistamine for Eye Allergy Relief - Everyday Health
The first contact lens to deliver medication directly to the eye's surface was approved this week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to relieve eye allergy symptoms. The go-ahead for Johnson & Johnson's Acuvue Theravision With Ketotifen, a disposable soft lens infused with an ophthalmic antihistamine, opens the door for a novel category of in-eye treatments. Already available in Japan and Canada, the lens is designed to release the medication and relieve the itch, redness, and burning of allergies within minutes of insertion in the eye. Symptoms can be eliminated for up to 12 hours, according to Johnson & Johnson. The lenses can continue to be worn for vision correction after the medication wears off, the drug company says. Aimed at Contact Wearers With Eye Allergies The product addresses a problem that potentially affects millions of people who find lenses uncomfortable or unwearable in the presence of allergens such as pollen, ragweed, and...