Viral Conjunctivitis is a Large Market With Significant Unmet Medical Need

Viral Conjunctivitis

Conjunctivitis is a Serious Ophthalmic Condition Viral conjunctivitis (a subtype of acute conjunctivitis), which may also be known as pink eye, is a serious ophthalmic infection with poten-tial long-term negative effects. Viral conjunctivitis results in moderate to severe inflammation of the conjunc-tiva, the mucous membrane that cov-ers the front of the eye and lines the inside of the eyelids. Corneal opacity occurs in 20-50% of viral conjunctivi-tis cases, and can lead to scarring or clouding of the cornea.

Epidemiology

3,000,000 cases in the USA

22,000,000 cases outside the USA

25,000,000 annual incidence globally

Reportable disease in Japan and Germany

Largely underreported in the USA

Standard of Care Today

No approved therapeutics

• Course of disease is up to 21 days

• Patients are contagious 10-14 days

• Children and adults

Today, care is primarily supportive

There are approximately 25 million cases of viral conjunctivitis annually worldwide, including 3 million cases each year in the United States alone. This number would likely be higher if all conjunctivitis patients sought treatment. However, despite the highly contagious nature of viral conjunctivitis, only about 70% of conjunctivitis patients in the United States seek medical care for the condition. Up to 90% of all viral forms of conjunctivitis result from a single viral family, known as adenovirus.

Despite the high incidence and known cause of viral conjunctivitis, there are no approved therapies for the disease, and care is mainly supportive. The infection can persist for up to three weeks, and patients are highly contagious for 10-14 days. This puts families and communities, including schools and daycare centers, at risk for rapid spread of the infection and persistence of the virus within the population.

Signs and symptoms of

viral conjunctivitis include

eye pain, redness, swelling

and discharge, which cause

significant discomfort and

embarrassment.

• Highly contageous

• Potential long-term consequences

• Visual impairment • Premature/chronic

dry eyeTears

Inflammation of the eyelids

Redness and swelling of the conjunctiva

Adenoviruses

Viral Conjunctivitis

Antibiotics are NOT the Answer Antibiotics show only modest benefit in reducing duration of symptoms, even in the minority of cases that result from bacterial infections,1 and their use in patients with viral conjunctivitis can have serious negative consequences. Despite this, physicians often prescribe antibiotics, and this type of inappropriate antibiotic use is a key factor in the development of multi-drug resistant bacterial infections and also results in high costs to patients and healthcare systems for therapy that is unlikely to provide benefit. Moreover, use of antibiotics and other topical medications can delay seeking care from a trained ophthalmologist, which may lead to negative outcomes, including vision loss.2

Despite the compelling medical and healthcare economic reasons not to use antibiotics for the treatment of viral conjunctivitis, data show that patients quickly fill antibiotic prescriptions because they are desperate for relief of eye pain and conjunctivitis signs and symptoms.3 This behavior underscores the tremendous clinical need and commercial opportunity for an effective therapy for adenoviral conjunctivitis.

1. Keen M and Thompson M. Treatment of Acute Conjunctivitis in the United States and Evidence of Antibiotic Overuse: Isolated Issue or a Systematic Problem? Ophthalmology 2017;124(8):1096-1098.

2. McDerby N, Watson SL, Robaei D and Naunton M. Inappropriate Use of Topical Chloramphenicol Results in Vision Loss. Clinical & Experimental Ophthalmology 2015;43(2):192-193.

3. Shekhawat N, Shtein RM, Blachley TS and Stein JD. Antibiotic Prescription Fills for Acute Conjunctivitis among Enrollees in a Large United States Managed Care Network. Ophthalmology 2017: 124(8);1099-1107.

Promise on the Horizon Okogen, an ophthalmic specialty pharma-ceutical company focused on developing innovative therapies to treat diseases of the eye, is developing OKG-0301 as an antiviral therapy for conjunctivitis. OKG-0301 has demonstrated antiviral and anti-inflammatory activity, and has the potential to become a first-in-class therapy for adenoviral conjunctivitis. For additional information about OKG-0301, please see the OKG-0301 Fact Sheet.

info@okogen.com 760.253.8400

www.okogen.com

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OKG-0301

Adenovirus Titers

Log 10

PFU/

ml