Bimatoprost: Promising novel drug delivery systems in treatment of glaucoma

The human eye being a complex anatomical structure, requires careful management. Glaucoma is a multifac-torial disorder that often leads to blindness if not taken care of. The main sign of glaucoma is a rise in intraocular pressure (IOP) eventually causing retinal cell damage and blindness. The drug delivery to eye is not an easy task as there are numerous barriers present in both anterior and posterior segments of the eye. Bimatoprost (BIM), a prostaglandin analogue, is one of the drugs of choice for the treatment of glaucoma for its therapeutic effec-tiveness, non-toxicity, minimal to no negative side effects, and high tolerability. The current dosage forms available for BIM are associated with drawbacks like lower bioavailability and reduced precorneal residence time (for eye drops). This article discusses various novel drug delivery approaches to overcome these concerns and to provide a sustained release effect for a prolonged duration ranging from days to months. Besides this, the article also covers various clinical trials and patents of these novel drug delivery systems of BIM.