MENLO PARK, Calif.—Contact lens maker Tangible Science announced Friday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the first daily disposable silicone hydrogel contact lens coated with a modified formula of Tangible Hydra-PEG. Tangible Hydra-PEG is a coating applied to custom contact lenses to improve lens wettability and deposit resistance, and the new lens utilizes a variation designed to enhance the surface of daily wear lenses. The new coated silicone hydrogel lens is designed to retain more water and stay cleaner during daily wear than an uncoated lens. Wetter and cleaner lenses are associated with greater patient comfort during wear, according to Tangible Science.

The new coated lens is made from a very soft material to maximize comfort on the eye. The contact lens material also has one of the highest levels of oxygen permeability available in a disposable lens, which can enhance corneal health and further improve comfort, the company said in a statement.

The original Tangible Hydra-PEG coating is widely used to improve the lens wearing experience for custom contact lens wearers, as custom lenses are made of hard materials which can be uncomfortable and can attract deposits, the company said. While daily disposable lenses are made of softer material, many patients still experience discomfort due to dry eyes, extended mobile device use, use of certain medications, or other factors.

“Dry eyes and dry contact lenses are the bane of both the eyecare practitioner and the patient. We founded our company specifically to solve this problem with innovative and ingenious solutions,” said Tangible Science CEO Vic McCray, MD. "We recognized that the polymer technology used in our original coating could be modified for daily disposable use. We are excited to now have two disposable lenses that can bring a better contact lens experience to doctors and patients, and are working diligently to bring this new lens to the U.S. market in 2019.”

The newly approved contact lens will initially be available in a single vision, aberration-control design. Future products utilizing the modified Tangible coating will include daily disposable toric and center-distance aspheric designs, which will be ideal for young myopic and presbyopic patients, the company said.