“I am tremendously satisfied and gratified to learn that topical laquinimod, even at a low dose, can penetrate into the anterior chamber and, more importantly, the vitreous of human eyes. The potential applications of a topical formulation and delivery that reaches the posterior segment are quite significant and can lead to very important and novel therapeutic implications. Our talented team at Byers and Stanford is very excited with the outcomes of the study,” said Quan Dong Nguyen, MD, MSc, FAAO, FARVO, FASRS, Professor of Ophthalmology, Medicine and Pediatrics at the Byers Eye Institute and the Stanford University School of Medicine (Palo Alto, USA) and Principal Investigator of the LION Study.

The article, titled Safety and Biodistribution of Topical Laquinimod, an Immunomodulator Targeting Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor: The LION Study, was published in Ophthalmology Science with Dr. Dalia El Feky, a Visiting Scholar at the Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University as well as an ophthalmologist and uveitis specialist in the Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University in Egypt, as the lead author.

There is an unmet need for a topical, non-steroidal therapy with a favourable safety profile for patients with non-anterior non-infectious uveitis. Previously, several steroidal and non-steroidal topical agents have failed to reliably demonstrate absorption to the posterior segment of the eye. LION was designed to study the ocular biodistribution of the topical hydrogel formulation of laquinimod and to evaluate its therapeutic potential for ocular inflammatory diseases involving the posterior segment of the eye.

The article is the result of a collaboration between Active Biotech, clinician-researchers at the Byers Eye Institute at Stanford University and the Global Ophthalmic Research Center (GORC). The results showed that daily doses of either 0.6, 1.2 or 1.8 mg of laquinimod in the topical formulation resulted in dose related intraocular concentrations of laquinimod in the posterior as well as the anterior parts of the eye. Topical laquinimod was well tolerated, and no dose-limiting toxicities were reported. Such findings support investigating laquinimod’s therapeutic potential for inflammatory eye diseases affecting the posterior segment.

Active Biotech’s focus for the laquinimod program is now directed towards identifying the best development partner for the continued clinical development of laquinimod in eye disorders.

Link to article: https://www.ophthalmologyscience.org/article/S2666-9145(26)00124-7/fulltext