A Safety and Efficacy Study of 2 Dosing Regimens of Recombinant Human Nerve Growth Factor (rhNGF) Eye Drop Solution Compared With Vehicle in Patients With Dry Eye Disease.

Inclusion Criteria

• Male or female aged ≥18 years of any race/ethnicity and eye color.
• A diagnosis of dry eye disease at least 6 months before enrollment (current use or recommended use of artificial tears for the treatment of dry eye).
• Moderate-to-severe dry eye characterized by the following clinical features:
• Symptoms Assessment in Dry Eye (SANDE) questionnaire global score ≥50, and
• Schirmer-I test without anesthesia >2 mm and 0.
• Medical history of tumor malignancy in the previous 3 years
• Systemic disease not stabilized within 1 month before the screening visit (e.g., diabetes with glycemia out of range, thyroid malfunction) or judged by the investigator to be incompatible with the study (e.g., current systemic infections) or with a condition incompatible with the frequent assessment required by the study.
• History of a serious adverse reaction or significant hypersensitivity to any drug or chemically related compounds or had a clinically significant allergy to drugs, foods, topical anesthetic eye drop or other local anesthetics or other materials, including ocular vital dyes, tropicamide eye drops, commercial artificial tears.
• Known or suspected allergy to sesame and other seeds, tree nuts, and/or peanuts, and/or any other component of the new rhNGF formulation.
• Fertile patients (i.e., not surgically sterilized, or postmenopausal women for at least 1 year) are excluded from participation in the study if they do not practice abstinence from heterosexual intercourse as per usual and customary lifestyle, or are unwilling to use an acceptable form of contraception such as condom with spermicidal cream or jelly for males, or for females if they meet any one of the following conditions:
• Currently pregnant (positive urine pregnancy test at screening or baseline visits) or planning to become pregnant during the duration of the treatment phase of the clinical trial.
• Participant is breastfeeding.
• Unwilling to use birth control measures such as mechanical barrier methods (spermicide in conjunction with a barrier such as a condom or diaphragm or intrauterine device) during the entire course of and 30 days after the study treatment period, or,
• Unwilling to continue to use highly effective birth control measures such as hormonal contraceptives (oral, implanted, transdermal, or injected) during the entire course of and 30 days after the study treatment period.
• Any concurrent medical condition that, in the judgment of the principal investigator, might interfere with the conduct of the study, confound the interpretation of the study results, or endanger the participant's well-being.
• Contact lenses or punctum plug use in either eye during the washout, treatment, and follow-up phases of the study (previous use is not an exclusion criteria but must be removed and discontinued at the Screening visit).
• Medical history of drug addiction or alcohol abuse (>1 drink /day for women and >2 drinks /day for men following USDA dietary Guidelines 2020-2025).
• Any prior ocular surgery, including but not limited to amniotic membrane transplant, refractive [PTK (Excimer Laser Phototherapeutic Keratectomy) / LASIK (Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis) / Epi-LASIK (Epithelial Laser In Situ Keratomileusis) / LASEK (Laser-Assisted Subepithelial Keratectomy) / SMILE (Small Incision Lenticule Extraction)], palpebral, cataract surgery, trabeculectomy, vitrectomy and Pan-Retinal Photocoagulation (PRP) within 90 days before the screening visit.
• Participation in a clinical trial with a new active substance, including medical devices, during the previous 60 days.
• Participation in another clinical trial study at the same time as the present study.