It has been said that there are around 3 million glaucoma patients in Japan, and the disease ranks second as the cause for adventitious blindness. To treat glaucoma, daily use of ophthalmic solutions plays an important role.
Pilocarpine preparations have been used since the 1870s, but the need to administer them frequently everyday has been unfavorable for many patients. In the 1980s, beta-blockers were developed, reducing the administration frequency to twice a day. In 1999, prostaglandin-type ophthalmic preparations that require once-a-day administration appeared on the market, easing the burden of frequent administration.
During the process of the development of these new ophthalmic agents, Ocusert, a sustained-release pilocarpine preparation that is inserted intra-ocularly only once a week, was designed and applied clinically.
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