Currently, no efficient, non-invasive methods exist for delivering drugs and/or other therapeutic agents to the interior of the eye to treat or prevent disease or injury. The present invention relates to a novel method that is suitable for the delivery of any therapeutic agent (suitably modified) to the interior of the eye without the need for the penetration of a needle into the eyeball. In a preferred embodiment, it involves an injection into a peripheral vein (or oral administration, or administration by some other eternal or parenteral route) of a solution of inert drug which is trapped in the eye by a magnetic field and activated by radiation once it is in position, so that the active agent is released only where it is needed and can have its therapeutic effect without affecting other tissues or organs. The inert drug may be composed of a biologically compatible magnetic nanoparticle chemically bound to a specially inactivated (caged) form of the drug to be delivered and to a luminescent marker.
