Harrow (NASDAQ: HROW) reported positive results from a clinical study evaluating its eye anesthesia gel IHEEZO (chloroprocaine hydrochloride ophthalmic gel) 3% for ocular surface anesthesia.
The single-center, investigator-initiated trial enrolled 50 adult patients undergoing same-day bilateral intravitreal injections. Each patient received IHEEZO in one randomly assigned eye and proparacaine ophthalmic solution 0.5% in the other eye. Both eyes were pretreated with 2% lidocaine-soaked pledgets before administration of the randomized anesthetic.
Patients reported approximately 58% less discomfort in the IHEEZO-treated eye compared with the proparacaine-treated eye, with statistically significant differences at all four post-injection assessments (p ≤ 0.048). Discomfort was measured on a 0-to-10 numeric rating scale at 2 minutes, 1 hour, 6–12 hours, and 24 hours after injection. Absolute treatment discomfort scores favored IHEEZO, with 1.44 versus 3.06 at two minutes and 1.26 versus 2.82 at one hour; lower scores persisted through the 24-hour mark.
The most common adverse reaction was mydriasis, occurring in approximately 25% of patients. The product is contraindicated in patients with a history of hypersensitivity to any component of the preparation.
Travis Peck, MD, principal investigator of the study and a retina specialist at Retina Consultants of Delmarva, said patient comfort is an underappreciated aspect of intravitreal injection experiences. He noted that patients consistently reported less discomfort in the IHEEZO-treated eye across all measured time points.
