Topokine Therapeutics has announced the initiation of clinical trials with XOPH5 Ointment for reduction of fat pouches around the eyelids (steatoblepharon).

As part of the randomised controlled trials, subjects are applying XOPH5 Ointment once per night to skin on the lower eyelid.

‘Tens of millions of Americans suffer from fat pouches around the eyes, which can make the face appear haggard and fatigued,’ said Michael Singer, MD, PhD, a board-certified ophthalmologist and Topokine’s Chief Scientific Officer.

‘Today, when patients ask what can be done, physicians explain the pros and cons of blepharoplasty surgery.  We’d like to add another option to the conversation, in the form of a once-daily topical ointment.’

The therapy’s origins data back to an observation in the Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology that prostaglandin eye drops have a common side-effect of reducing fat around the eye. The observations have now been confirmed in over one dozen independent, peer-reviewed scientific publications.

XOPH5 ointment is being developed as a once-daily skin application for local, controlled fat reduction in patients with excess eyelid fat.

‘XOPH5 Ointment, XAF5 Gel and TAT4 Gel aim to expand the physician’s aesthetic toolkit,’ said President and CEO Murat Kalayoglu, MD, PhD. ‘We see a gap in treatment options between invasive office-based procedures on the one end, and cosmetics that temporarily conceal blemishes on the other end. If approved, our suite of products would fill that gap with innovative, topical medical therapy.’