Enzo prepares trial for new eye drug

Enzo BioChem Inc. will begin a clinical trial study of a new drug, Optiquel, for treatment of uveitis, a non-infectious inflammation of the eye, the company said Monday.

Enzo is a Manhattan company with a major division, Enzo Clinical Labs, in Farmingdale.

It said it filed an investigational new drug application with the Food and Drug Administration.

The company described the planned trial as a "randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled study with a long-term follow-up."

The study will be conducted by the National Institute of Health's National Eye Institute. The principal investigator will be Dr. Robert Nussenblatt, chief of the institute's laboratory of immunology.