Ophthalmic composition containing a polyaphron dispersion

1. An ophthalmic composition comprising:

a polyaphron dispersion comprising a hydrophobic discontinuous phase, at least 85% of a hydrophilic continuous phase by weight of the composition, and less than 3% of surfactants by weight of the polyaphron dispersion;

wherein the ophthalmic composition is a sterile and/or aseptic composition formulated in the form of an eye drop for administration to an eye,

wherein the polyaphron dispersion remains intact when administered to the eye,

wherein the ophthalmic composition does not comprise a fluorinated surfactant,

wherein the ophthalmic composition has an osmolality of from 200 to 600 mOsm/kg, and

wherein the composition further comprises a tonicity agent selected from the group consisting of a sugar, a sugar alcohol, a glycol, a carbamide, and a mixture of two or more thereof.

2. The ophthalmic composition according to claim 1 , wherein the composition is in the form of a liquid.

3. The ophthalmic composition according to claim 1 , wherein the composition further comprises an omega-3 fatty acid.

4. The ophthalmic composition according to claim 1 , wherein the composition has a pH of from 3.5 to 9.

5. The ophthalmic composition according to claim 1 , wherein the composition further comprises a gelling agent.

6. The ophthalmic composition according to claim 1 , wherein the composition has a viscosity of 1 to 50 Pas at a shear rate of 1 s −1 .

7. The ophthalmic composition according to claim 1 , wherein the surfactant is selected from the group consisting of one or more non-ionic surfactant(s), cationic surfactant(s), anionic surfactant(s), zwitterionic surfactant(s) and mixtures of two or more thereof.

8. The ophthalmic composition according to claim 1 , wherein the composition further comprises a pharmaceutically acceptable oil selected from the group consisting of castor oil, long chain triglycerides, medium chain triglycerides, mineral oil, silicones, phospholipids, mono- and diglycerides and mixtures of two or more thereof.

9. The ophthalmic composition according to claim 1 , wherein the surfactant is selected from the group consisting of a polyethylene glycol sorbitan fatty acid ester, a sorbitan fatty acid ester, a polyethylene glycol fatty acid ester, a polyethylene glycol stearate ester, a polyoxyethylene glycol-block-polypropylene glycol-block-polyoxyethylene glycol-block, a polyethylene glycol lauryl ester and mixtures of two or more thereof.

10. The ophthalmic composition according to claim 1 , wherein the composition is in the form of a gel for application to the eye.

11. The ophthalmic composition according to claim 1 , wherein the mean diameter of the droplets of aphrons are from 0.5 to 50 μm.

12. The ophthalmic composition according to claim 1 , wherein the composition further comprises a pharmaceutically active agent.

13. A device for dropwise dispensing of a composition, wherein the device comprises a container holding the composition as defined in claim 1 .

14. An ophthalmic composition comprising:

a polyaphron dispersion comprising less than 15% of a hydrophobic discontinuous phase by weight of the composition, and a hydrophilic continuous phase comprising less than 0.5% of surfactant by weight of the ophthalmic composition;

wherein the surfactant comprises a non-ionic non-halogenated surfactant,

wherein the ophthalmic composition does not comprise a fluorinated surfactant,

wherein the ophthalmic composition is a sterile and/or aseptic composition in the form of an eye drop formulated for administration to an eye,

wherein the polyaphron dispersion remains intact under shear stress caused by blinking of a patient's eyelid when the composition is in place in the patient's eye,

wherein the ophthalmic composition has an osmolality of from 200 to 600 mOsm/kg, and

wherein the composition further comprises a tonicity agent selected from the group consisting of a sugar, a sugar alcohol, a glycol, a carbamide, and a mixture of two or more thereof.

15. The ophthalmic composition according to claim 14 , wherein the composition further comprises a pharmaceutically active agent.