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factorial designs were applied for the optimization. The particle size achieved by the
optimized formulation is 67.98nm and the percentage of entrapment efficiency of SLN
was found to be 73.4659 %.

Hen’s Egg Chorioallantoic Membrane Test (HET-CAM) assessed the irritation potential of
all three formulations. The corneal uptake of all three formulations was studied by goat
cornea using Corneal Laser Scanning Microscope. All three formulations showed good
penetration when studied under the microscope. The irritation score achieved was nearly
0.3 confirming the non-irritant nature of all three formulations. All three formulations were
successfully able to penetrate the corneal region, however,the liposomal formulation
showed better penetration compared to Nanoemulsions and SLN. Drug release and
Stability studies results give an impression that all the formulations were released 90
percent within an 8-10 hrs period and the accelerated stability studies results showed
that all the formulations were stable in different temperature conditions.

In the end, all three formulations prepared and optimized Nanoformulations were
evaluated based on safety, efficacy, and patient compliance (ocular irritation) potential.
The comparison was mainly based on an ocular irritation study, Ex-vivo permeation study,
Penetration Depth of the formulation, and Zone of Inhibition. The comparative data
suggested that Liposomal formulation can be selected as the best approach as it showed
the highest corneal penetration 363.25 compared to 343 and 323 for nanoemulsion and
SLN, maximum anti-fungicidal activity via a zone of inhibition that resulted in 48mm
highest compared to 30 mm of Nanoemulsion and 27mm of SLN. The liposomal
formulation was selected as the best approach considering higher permeation and
penetration through the ugh corneal membrane along with more inhibition zones.
Although the ex vivo profile of liposome and nanoemulsion showed comparative
permeation, considering the formulation of components used in the formulation of
nanoemulsion (oil and surfactant), liposome (lipid and cholesterol), and SLN (lipids and
surfactants), liposome was considered as better for ocular delivery of Caspofungin. For
the best formulation approach a secondary carrier which is an in-situ gelling system. The
in-situ gelling system was made with Pluronics 127 and Cabopol 934p, evaluation
parameters were performed for the same, and the particle size and PDI achieved was
115.12±3.56, PDI 0.098±0.0001 with 89.56±1.14 % entrapment efficiency. The ex-vivo
trans-corneal permeation showed more than 90 % drug release in a 12hrs period.

Key words: QBD Approach, Nanoemulsions, liposomes, Ocular, Antifungal, Permeability,
Nanoformulations

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