Selagine Plasma to Advance Pooled Plasma Eye Drops for Moderate-to-Severe Dry Eye

Agreement with Selagine, Inc. supports the development of an investigational pooled plasma biologic platform intended to move beyond individualized compounded serum tears

CHICAGO, June 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Selagine Plasma, Inc. announced that it has received certain intellectual property rights from Selagine, Inc. and the University of Illinois Chicago to develop pooled human plasma products and pursue related commercialization activities for ophthalmic applications, including an investigational pooled plasma eye drop program for moderate-to-severe dry eye disease and related ocular surface disorders.

Selagine Plasma is developing a patent-pending pooled plasma platform intended to transition blood-derived ocular surface therapy from individualized, patient-specific preparation toward a standardized biologic manufacturing model. The program is designed around screened donors, plasmapheresis collection, pooled plasma, closed-system manufacturing, pathogen reduction, sterile single-use dispensing, and defined release specifications.

"Selagine Plasma is focused on developing pooled human plasma eye drops for patients with moderate-to-severe dry eye disease," said Sandeep Jain, MD, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Selagine Plasma and B.A. Field Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Illinois Chicago. "The opportunity is not simply to create another tear substitute. The opportunity is to build a standardized, off-the-shelf blood-derived biologic platform designed around the needs of an inflamed ocular surface in dry eye disease."

Current serum tear formulations can play an important therapeutic role in advanced ocular surface disease, but they are often prepared through individualized workflows that are difficult to scale, standardize, distribute, and store. Compounded drugs are not FDA-approved, and FDA does not verify the safety, effectiveness, or quality of compounded drugs before marketing

"Individualized serum tears are tied to a one-patient-one-product workflow," Dr. Jain continued. "That model can involve repeated blood draws, short expiration dates, variable access, and limited product standardization. By contrast, pooled plasma creates the possibility of an off-the-shelf biologic platform with batch-defined specifications, closed-system processing, pathogen reduction, sterile single-use packaging, and a potential pathway toward conventional pharmacy distribution and reimbursement if approved."

A central design principle of Selagine Plasma's program is the development of quiescent plasma: a pooled plasma product engineered to reduce inflammatory and platelet-activation-associated mediators while retaining potentially beneficial plasma-derived components. Because moderate-to-severe dry eye is often associated with ocular surface inflammation, Selagine Plasma is designing the product around the ocular surface's inflammatory biology while addressing limitations of localized compounding workflows.

Selagine Plasma has released an accompanying infographic illustrating the proposed paradigm shift from a Compounding Pharmacy Model to an intended FDA-approved biologic drug model, including an end-to-end commercialization flow from screened donors and plasmapheresis collection through pooled plasma manufacturing, pathogen reduction, sterile single-use dispensing, pharmacy distribution, and patient use.

Selagine Plasma's pooled plasma eye drop program is investigational and has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The company expects to pursue an appropriate FDA development pathway before any commercial launch of a product candidate.

About Dry Eye Disease

Dry eye occurs when the eyes do not produce enough tears to stay moist, or when the tears do not work properly. This can make the eyes feel uncomfortable and, in some cases, cause vision problems. Dry eye affects millions of Americans every year, especially older Americans and women. Autoimmune conditions, such as Sjogren's syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, and ocular graft-versus-host disease, are associated with more severe ocular surface inflammation and dry eye disease. For more information about Dry Eye, visit the National Eye Institute's Dry Eye page: https://www.nei.nih.gov/learn-about-eye-health/eye-conditions-and-diseases/dry-eye

About Serum Tears

Serum tears are blood-derived eye drops most commonly prepared from a patient's own blood. Blood is collected from a peripheral vein, serum is separated and processed, and the resulting preparation is dispensed as eye drops, often through a compounding pharmacy. Serum tears contain naturally occurring proteins, growth factors, vitamins, and other tear-like components that can support ocular surface healing, and they are commonly used for severe dry eye disease and related ocular surface disorders. Serum tears prepared through compounding workflows are not FDA-approved, and FDA does not verify the safety, effectiveness, or quality of compounded drugs before marketing. Individualized serum tear workflows can also involve repeated blood draws, batch-to-batch variability, cold-chain handling, short beyond-use dating, and variable insurance coverage. These limitations underscore an unmet need for standardized, scalable blood-derived ocular surface therapies, which is the rationale for Selagine Plasma's effort to develop quiescent pooled plasma eye drops with defined manufacturing and release specifications. For more information about serum tears, visit the American Academy of Ophthalmology's EyeWiki page: https://eyewiki.org/Autologous_and_Allogenic_Serum_Tears

About Selagine, Inc.

Selagine, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company spun out from the University of Illinois Chicago and dedicated to developing novel therapies for ocular surface diseases. Selagine's programs are built on translational science, biologic engineering, and scalable development pathways designed to improve patient access to advanced ocular surface care. For more information, visit www.selagine.com

About Selagine Plasma, Inc.

Selagine Plasma, Inc. is developing pooled human plasma-derived ophthalmic products for moderate-to-severe dry eye disease and related ocular surface disorders. The company's platform is designed to transition blood-derived ocular surface therapy from individualized compounding workflows toward standardized, FDA-regulated biologic manufacturing, with the goal of enabling scalable pharmacy distribution if approved. For more information, email [email protected]

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding product development, regulatory strategy, manufacturing plans, commercialization activities, patient access, potential reimbursement pathways, and potential benefits of pooled plasma-derived ophthalmic products. These statements are based on current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties, including regulatory review, clinical development outcomes, manufacturing scale-up, intellectual property protection, financing, payer coverage, and market adoption. Selagine Plasma's pooled plasma eye drop product candidates are investigational and have not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. No assurance can be given that any product candidate will receive regulatory approval or be successfully commercialized.

SOURCE Selagine, Inc.