Redwood Pharma AB (publ) announced that the first patient has been included in the company's clinical trial of RP501 and has also started treatment. The RP501 medical device with its innovative thermogelling properties is expected to constitute an effective and unique addition to first-line treatment for patients suffering from dry eye disease. Redwood Pharma's clinical trial is a single-center study that will be conducted at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, under the guidance of Principal Investigator Prof. Gerhard Garhöfer.

60 patients will be divided into groups of patients with and without contact lenses. Contact lens wearers will be treated over a month, while non-wearers will be treated over 3 months. Trial results are expected no later than First Quarter 2023.

RP501 (IntelliGel) is currently being developed as a medical device in Europe. The safety and efficacy of RP501 was tested in the RP101 Phase II trial conducted by Redwood Pharma in post-menopausal women. In that trial RP501 (the vehicle control) improved both subjective symptoms and objective signs such as dryness, foreign body sensation, tear fluid production, tear break-up time and corneal staining.

In accordance with the new European Medical Device Regulation (MDR, EU regulation 2017/745), the objectives of the trial are to show safety and efficacy of RP501. Treatment efficacy in individual patients will be evaluated using various objective and subjective measures. The results of the trial will be used in the filing of a CE-mark application.

RP501 will address a large market where there is a need for better therapies that offer effective relief from dry eye with fewer administrations per day. RP501 has significant therapeutic and commercial potential as a next-generation first-line therapy to treat the majority of dry eye sufferers, including males and females of all ages. The global market was valued at USD 2.3 billion in 2019 and expected to grow to USD 2.9 billion by 2030.

Dry eye disease sufferers turn first to artificial tears (saline eye drops) to provide temporary relief.