Ocular Iontophoresis for Anterior and Posterior Segment Drug Delivery

Over the recent decades, there has been seismic shift in the field of ocular drug delivery ranging from dosage form design to drug product commercialization. Advancements in the fields of nanotechnology, biomedical engineering and clinical science significantly improved the feasibility of ocular drug delivery. Despite these technological advances, there exists need to deliver drugs in therapeutic levels for the treatment of ophthalmic ailments. Strategies improving precorneal residence and enhancing transcorneal penetration of drugs/drug molecules showed a promise for targeted delivery. Delivery of drugs through ophthalmic route is compromised by multitude of factors including but not limited to static, dynamic and metabolic barriers. Iontophoresis appears to be a minimally invasive technique to drive molecules into posterior ocular milieu. In this review, recent developments in the iontophoresis technique for delivery of drugs across the ocular globe is summarized and discussed.