Abstract: The present invention generally relates to inherently wettable silicone hydrogel contact lenses having relatively high oxygen permeability, relatively high equilibrium water content and relatively low elastic modulus. The present invention is also related to a method for making such inherently wettable silicone hydrogel contact lenses.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method to load a water insoluble phospholipid as nanoparticles to load into a hydrogel contact lens in autoclaving process during the hydrogel contact lens manufacturing process without an extra manufacturing step and without swelling the hydrogel contact lens with an organic solvent. The phospholipid nanoparticles loaded in hydrogel contact lens subsequently releases to the eye upon wearing.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method to load a water insoluble phospholipid as nanoparticles to load into a hydrogel contact lens in autoclaving process during the hydrogel contact lens manufacturing process without an extra manufacturing step and without swelling the hydrogel contact lens with an organic solvent. The phospholipid nanoparticles loaded in hydrogel contact lens subsequently releases to the eye upon wearing.

Abstract: The present invention generally relates to inherently wettable silicone hydrogel contact lenses having relatively high oxygen permeability, relatively high equilibrium water content and relatively low elastic modulus. The present invention is also related to a method for making such inherently wettable silicone hydrogel contact lenses.

Abstract: The invention provides a method for producing coated silicone hydrogel contact lenses in a cost-effective manner.

Abstract: A tobacco-free oral pouch product providing immediate and long lasting flavor release comprises a pouch wrapper and tobacco-free flavor beads contained within the pouch wrapper. The flavor beads comprise at least one of microcrystalline cellulose, pectin and sodium alginate, at least one polymer having a higher solubility in saliva than microcrystalline cellulose, pectin and/or sodium alginate, and at least one flavorant. The pectin and sodium alginate are cross-linked. The tobacco-free flavor beads provide immediate release of the flavorant upon placement of a pouch product in a user's mouth and long lasting release of the flavorant for about 15 minutes to about 80 minutes. The oral pouch product contains only tobacco-free flavor beads.

Abstract: The invention provides a method for producing coated silicone hydrogel contact lenses in a cost-effective manner. The method comprises treating the molding surfaces of polypropylene lens molds (or other hydrophobic plastic molds) with a vacuum UV or a corona plasma to increase the surface energies of the molding surfaces of the lens molds, cast-molding a silicone hydrogel lens formulation containing a relatively small amount of at least one carboxyl-containing vinylic monomer in the treated lens molds, and heating resultant cast-molded silicone hydrogel contact lenses in an aqueous coating solution comprising a water-soluble and thermally crosslinkable polymeric material to form a coated silicone hydrogel contact lens comprising a bulk silicone hydrogel material and a hydrogel layer covalently attached onto the bulk silicone hydrogel material.

Abstract: A tobacco-free oral pouch product providing immediate and long lasting flavor release comprises a pouch wrapper and tobacco-free flavor beads contained within the pouch wrapper. The flavor beads comprise at least one of microcrystalline cellulose, pectin and sodium alginate, at least one polymer having a higher solubility in saliva than microcrystalline cellulose, pectin and/or sodium alginate, and at least one flavorant. The pectin and sodium alginate are cross-linked. The tobacco-free flavor beads provide immediate release of the flavorant upon placement of a pouch product in a user's mouth and long lasting release of the flavorant for about 15 minutes to about 80 minutes. The oral pouch product contains only tobacco-free flavor beads.

Abstract: Described herein is a method for producing photochromic silicone hydrogel contact lenses in a relatively efficient and consistent manner from a polymerizable composition under a controlled thermal curing scheme. The main polymerizable components in the polymerizable composition are a high radical-reactive hydrophilic (meth)acrylamido monomer, a high radical-reactive siloxane-containing (meth)acrylamido monomer, and a polysiloxane vinylic crosslinker(s) free of low-reactive ethylenically unsaturated group as the main crosslinker. The thermal free radical initiator having a 10 hour half-life temperature (T10h?) of from about 50° C. to about 90° C. The controlled thermal curing scheme includes maintaining a first curing temperature of from about (T10h??20)° C. to about T10h?° C. for a first curing time and maintaining a second curing temperature of from about (T10h?+10)° C. to about (T10h?+35)° C. for a second curing time.

Abstract: The invention is generally related to a soft hydrogel ocular insert that is composed of at least one hydrogel material in fully hydrated state and can be comfortable for wearing. The hydrogel material comprises polymer chains, which are derived from at least one arylborono-containing hydrophilic copolymer and at least one mucoadhesive polymer, and cyclic boronic ester crosslinks for crosslinking those mucoadhesive polymer chains and arylborono-containing hydrophilic copolymer chains to form a 3-dimensional polymer network. Those cyclic boronic ester crosslinks can be hydrolyzed slowly in the tear of the eyes of a patient, resulting in the disintegration (dissolution) of the 3-dimensional polymer network and thereby providing mucoadhesisve polymers and optionally drugs impregnated in the hydrogel ocular insert in a controlled manner.

Abstract: The present invention generally relates to inherently wettable silicone hydrogel contact lenses having relatively high oxygen permeability, relatively high equilibrium water content and relatively low elastic modulus. The present invention is also related to a method for making such inherently wettable silicone hydrogel contact lenses.

Abstract: The present invention generally relates to inherently wettable silicone hydrogel contact lenses having relatively high oxygen permeability, relatively high equilibrium water content and relatively low elastic modulus. The present invention is also related to a method for making such inherently wettable silicone hydrogel contact lenses.

Abstract: The invention is related to a cost-effective method for making a silicone hydrogel contact lens having a crosslinked hydrophilic coating thereon. A method of the invention involves heating a silicone hydrogel contact lens in an aqueous solution in the presence of a watersoluble, highly branched, thermally-crosslinkable hydrophilic polymeric material having positively-charged azetidinium groups, to and at a temperature from about 40° C. to about 140° C. for a period of time sufficient to covalently attach the thermally-crosslinkable hydrophilic polymeric material onto the surface of the silicone hydrogel contact lens through covalent linkages each formed between one azetidinium group and one of the reactive functional groups on and/or near the surface of the silicone hydrogel contact lens, thereby forming a crosslinked hydrophilic coating on the silicone hydrogel contact lens. Such method can be advantageously implemented directly in a sealed lens package during autoclave.

Abstract: The invention provide a method for producing coated silicone hydrogel contact lenses in a cost-effective and environmentally friendly manner. The method is free of lens extraction step and comprises: curing thermally or actinically in a lens mold a polymerizable composition that comprises at least one hydrophilized polysiloxane vinylic crosslinker, hydroxyethyl methacrylate, C1-C2 alkoxyethyl (meth)acrylate, at least one free-radical initiator, and at least one solvent selected from the group consisting of water, propylene glycol, and/or a low-molecular weight polyethyleneglycol; and heating the cast-molded silicone hydrogel contact lens in an aqueous coating solution to form a coated silicone hydrogel contact lens comprising a bulk silicone hydrogel material and a layer of a crosslinked hydrophilic polymeric material that is covalently attached onto the bulk silicone hydrogel material. Resultant contact lenses are optically clear and wettable and have a relatively high oxygen permeability.

Abstract: The invention provides a method for producing photochromic silicone hydrogel (SiHy) contact lenses based on thermal cast-molding technology in a relatively efficient and consistent manner. The method is characterized by selecting a high radical-reactive hydrophilic acrylic monomer while eliminating any low radical-reactive hydrophilic N-vinyl amide monomer in a lens formulation (polymerizable composition), by selecting a weight ratio of low-radical-reactive hydrophilic N-vinyl amide monomer to a high radical-reactive hydrophilic acrylic monomer in a lens formulation if the low radical-reactive hydrophilic N-vinyl amide monomer is needed, and/or by using a relatively high temperature thermal initiator in a lens formulation, to control the lens properties (e.g., water content, elastic modulus, etc.) and lens processability (capability of dry-delensing from molds) of thermally cast-molded SiHy contact lenses while minimizing loss in photochromic ability of resultant SiHy contact lenses.

Abstract: The invention is related to a cost-effective method for making a silicone hydrogel contact lens having a crosslinked hydrophilic coating thereon. A method of the invention involves heating a silicone hydrogel contact lens in an aqueous solution in the presence of a water-soluble, highly branched, thermally-crosslinkable hydrophilic polymeric material having positively-charged azetidinium groups, to and at a temperature from about 40° C. to about 140° C. for a period of time sufficient to covalently attach the thermally-crosslinkable hydrophilic polymeric material onto the surface of the silicone hydrogel contact lens through covalent linkages each formed between one azetidinium group and one of the reactive functional groups on and/or near the surface of the silicone hydrogel contact lens, thereby forming a crosslinked hydrophilic coating on the silicone hydrogel contact lens. Such method can be advantageously implemented directly in a sealed lens package during autoclave.

Abstract: The invention is generally related to topical ophthalmic compositions comprising: from about 0.05 w/v % to about 5 w/v % of galactomannan polymer; a cis-diol and about 0.5 w/v % to about 10 w/v % of a hydrophilic copolymer which comprises (a) arylborono-containing repeating units each having a boronic acid, (b) repeating units of at least one phosphorylcholine-containing vinylic monomer, and (c) acrylic monomeric units of at least one acrylic monomer having 3 to 16 carbon atoms, the ophthalmic composition is substantially free of a borate for improving lubrication, hydration and drug delivery property.

Abstract: The invention provides a contact lens manufacturing method for cast-molding of silicone hydrogel contact lenses having enhanced oxygen permeability without adversely affecting desirable lens mechanical properties (e.g., modulus). A method of the invention comprises adding a small amount of a radical scavenger (e.g., H-TEMPO) in a polymerizable composition for cast-molding of SiHy contact lenses) to provide the resultant polymerizable composition with a bi-phase curing profile at a curing temperature of from about 45° C. to about 100° C. With such a bi-phase curing profile, the resultant polymerizable composition can be thermally cured at the curing temperature to form a SiHy contact lens having an oxygen permeability higher than that for a polymerizable composition having the substantially identical composition excepting being free of any radical scavenger.

Abstract: The present invention generally relates to inherently wettable silicone hydrogel contact lenses having relatively high oxygen permeability, relatively high equilibrium water content and relatively low elastic modulus. The present invention is also related to a method for making such inherently wettable silicone hydrogel contact lenses.

Abstract: The invention provides a method for making silicone hydrogel contact lenses. The method of the invention is characterized by using an organic solvent as a processing-aid tool for controlling lens diameter without significantly affecting lens equilibrium water content during cast-molding of soft contact lenses from a polymerizable composition. By adjusting the weight percentage of the organic solvent in a polymerizable composition for making SiHy contact lenses, one can adjust lens diameter of produced SiHy lenses to meet target without affecting adversely the lens properties.