New Eye Care Product, i-Lid™ Cleanser, Helps Patients in Need of Eyelid Hygiene Products

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., May 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Eye Institute of Marin in Marin County, California  announced today that it is improving the care of the Institute's patients with a new eyelid cleanser.

The i-Lid™ Cleanser, was developed by Kathryn Najafi-Tagol, MD, Founder and Medical Director of the Institute and scientists from NovaBay Pharmaceuticals. She and other doctors at the Institute are using it to successfully care for patients with eye inflammation, crusty eyelids and other eye infections and conditions which require eyelid hygiene and cleansing regularly. "It's an important new tool in our toolbox for helping patients," says Dr. Najafi-Tagol.

One such patient is Preston McCoy, a retired systems analyst in Marin County. McCoy has a chronic condition called blepharitis, which can be caused by bacteria or irritation from dandruff. For years, he had red, swollen and irritated eyes. "There were times when I couldn't see well enough," says McCoy. The current standard of care, antibiotics and steroids, brought McCoy only temporary relief, while raising worries about making his glaucoma worse. But when Dr. Najafi-Tagol prescribed wiping his eyes twice a day with the advanced i-Lid Cleanser, the eye inflammation and redness disappeared and his eyes felt much improved.

NovaBay's advanced i-Lid Cleanser is composed of a pure, stable form of hypochlorous acid and Saline. Hypochlorous acid is a substance naturally made by the body's immune system as a first defense against microbial invaders.

For more on Dr. Najafi-Tagol and her patients discussing the i-Lid Cleanser benefits and the difference it makes,

please see this video

and read this product backgrounder.

Various versions of pure, stable hypochlorous acid have been created by NovaBay Pharmaceuticals (NYSE MKT: NBY), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company in Emeryville, Calif that is developing topical, non–antibiotic antimicrobial products. Dr. Najafi-Tagol worked with the company to help formulate hypochlorous acid into the new eye care product, i-Lid Cleanser. She now has been using i-Lid Cleanser routinely for months—and the product was officially introduced by NovaBay at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting in late April.

As many as one-third of the people who make appointments to see an eye doctor come in because of irritation, red eyes , swelling and discomfort with their eyes. The Eye Institute's success in improving eye care for all of these patients using i-Lid Cleanser has led other ophthalmologists to adopt the new treatment. For instance, Steven J. Lichtenstein, M.D., associate professor of clinical surgery and pediatric ophthalmologist at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, has added i-Lid Cleanser to his treatment regimen. "I have seen a definite improvement in many of my patients," he says. "Some of the patients' parents tell me that this has definitely been the best treatment regimen we have tried."

About Eye Institute of Marin
Eye Institute of Marin is a leader in comprehensive eye care in Northern California. It strives to provide first-class ophthalmologic care in a comfortable, friendly and professional atmosphere. Its state-of-the-art facility offers the best technology available for all eye care needs. Its doctors and staff are trained and skilled in the latest diagnostic tools, and treatments of serious eye conditions, such as: cataract, glaucoma, diabetic eye, macular degeneration, dry eyes ,and  laser surgery to ensure patients receive the best care. For more on the institute, visit its website. www.eyeinstituteofmarin.com 

About Kathryn Najafi-Tagol, M.D.
Dr. Kathryn Najafi-Tagol is the founder and director of the Eye Institute of Marin in Northern California, and member of the faculty at the California Pacific Medical Center. In her practice, she delivers state-of-the art care for patients with glaucoma, cataracts and other eye conditions such as blepharitis and dry eye syndrome.

In addition to her practice, Dr. Najafi-Tagol has been advancing the frontier of ophthalmological care with basic and clinical research. She has pioneered an innovative new approach for patients who need eye lid hygiene for blepharitis. She's also NovaBay Pharmaceutical's ophthalmic chief medical officer, overseeing the clinical trials of a promising new medicine for adenoviral conjunctivitis (EKC), for which there are no effective current treatments.

Dr. Najafi-Tagol's commitment to developing new products for unmet medical needs started early in her career. After immigrating to San Francisco from Iran in the 1980s, she earned a B.S. in chemistry with honors from the University of California at Davis, and an M.D. at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine. She also completed a fellowship in glaucoma at the Doheny Eye Institute at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine.

As a medical resident at Brookdale University Hospital in Brooklyn, Dr. Najafi-Tagol conducted a safety study of a new, pure formulation of hypochlorous acid, an anti-microbial substance produced by the body's own immune system as a first defense against invaders. Her research in rabbits showed that the saline hypochlorous acid formulation called NVC 101 (created by NovaBay) compared to Balanced Salt Solution (BSS) was nonirritating and non-toxic in the rabbit eyes.

Since then, Dr. Najafi-Tagol has worked with NovaBay to invent a new prescription product containing pure hypochlorous acid as preservative and saline, now being marketed as i-Lid Cleanser, and has shown in her clinical practice that it is more effective than current over the counter eye lid hygiene products for patients with blepharitis.

Eye Institute of Marin
Kathryn Najafi-Tagol, MD
(415) 444-0300
www.eyeinstituteofmarin.com

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej1GoZiTZiA

SOURCE The Eye Institute of Marin