UIC’s new dry eye drug is the result of patient-centric innovation
Breakthrough treatments aren’t developed overnight, said Dr. Sandeep Jain, a board-certified ophthalmologist and professor at UIC. Transitioning from a concept to a safe, effective product takes years of rigorous testing and close collaboration.
But, after a decade of diligent progress, a new drug from UIC will proceed to clinical trials this summer — biologic eyedrops to treat dry eye disease. Development of the eye drops started in UI Health’s Dry Eye and Ocular GVHD Clinic, which Jain directs.
“This is a prime example of how ideas take shape in academic institutions like UIC,” Jain said. “If we are going to make the research efforts, they can’t just be ideas. They must be drugs, therapies, and they must help people now.”
In his clinic, Jain consistently encounters dry eye disease — an umbrella term for conditions that cause chronic pain, itchiness, inflammation and overall eye discomfort.
Several immune signals switch on simultaneously to trigger dry eye, each traveling down its own biological route to inflame the eye’s surface. Because today’s drugs typically target only one route, the unchecked pathways can continually irritate the eye. Fuller relief often depends on treatments that calm multiple signals at once.
The new drug is composed of immunoglobulins, or antibodies, consolidated from more than 8,000 healthy participants. Administered in the form of eyedrops, the biologic drug shuts off multiple inflammation pathways at once. It’s like using a hair clipper versus cutting your hair strand by strand, Jain said.
“It’s not just one drug,” he said. “It’s a collection of natural antibodies with myriad actions against inflammation.”
All clear
This spring, the FDA accepted the eyedrop therapy’s Investigational New Drug application — its official go-ahead for human studies.
Over the summer, 100 participants with moderate to severe dry eye disease will test the drug at 12 clinical sites across the United States. Fifty participants will use the eyedrops twice per day, and 50 will use a placebo. The study is double-masked, which means neither the participants nor the researchers know who received which treatment. The clinical trials will not take place at UIC to avoid potential conflicts of interest, Jain said.
This trial will be the first to test an immunoglobulin drug as a standalone treatment for dry eye disease. Jain sees the upcoming clinical trial as closing the loop between patient needs and patient care.
“The goal is to get the eyedrops in patients’ hands,” he said.
Patients inspired the eyedrops more than 10 years ago in UIC’s Dry Eye and Ocular GVHD Clinic, where Jain treated debilitating dry eye symptoms stemming from autoimmune disorders, cancer treatments and other conditions.
In 2020, Jain founded the company Selagine. In 2021, his UIC lab received a five-year, $10.15 million award from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health to advance the immunoglobulin-based treatment. From there, the lab and young startup company worked with global health care firm Grifols to develop the drug, and later, the UIC Office of Technology Management guided the patent process. The drug received its first patent in Japan in January 2025.
“The groundwork for this research was laid entirely at UIC,” said Jain, who is also affiliated with the University of Illinois Cancer Center. “From the patients in our clinic and my colleagues in the lab and department to the pharmacy teams, the Office of Technology Management and the leadership of the College of Medicine, countless people at UIC helped make this project possible.
“Ultimately, it’s about turning discoveries into treatments that truly improve the lives of the patients who need them most,” he said.
