A viral post claims University of Sydney scientists cured cataracts with lanosterol drops approved in 2025. The science says otherwise.
Australian scientists at the University of Sydney developed lanosterol eye drops that dissolve cataracts in six weeks. It works like drain cleaner for the eye. Australia and several Asian nations approved it in 2025. The FDA requires 5-7 more years despite thousands of successful cases.
None of this is true.
1. Where did this come from?
In July 2015, a team led by Ling Zhao published in Nature that two children with congenital cataracts had a mutation that stopped lanosterol production. They then tested lanosterol on rabbits, dogs, and human lens cells in a dish. 11 of 13 rabbits and some dogs showed improvement after eye injections and drops.
Headlines declared the end of cataract surgery.
2. What happened when other labs tried to replicate it?
It failed.
Three independent studies concluded:
“all three studies failed to provide evidence that lanosterol or 25-hydroxycholesterol have either anti-cataractogenic activity or bind aggregated lens protein to dissolve cataracts.”
In one test, researchers cultured lens nuclei from 40 age-related human cataract lenses for 6 days in 25 mM lanosterol. It failed to dissolve proteins or restore clarity.
In another, a patient with idiopathic juvenile nuclear cataract was treated with 5 mM lanosterol dissolved in olive oil two times daily for the first week and three times daily for the next seven weeks. It “failed to produce any relevant clinical effect in reversing either the cataract or halting the progressive worsening of visual acuity”.
Why? Lanosterol molecules must pass through the cornea, anterior chamber, iris, and pupil just to reach the outer surface of the lens, let alone inside it.
3. Did Australia approve it in 2025?
No. There is no TGA approval for lanosterol cataract drops in Australia.
What DID happen in February 2026 was a licensing deal by Arrotex Pharmaceuticals for an ophthalmic suspension from Formosa Pharma for Australia and NZ – not a cataract cure. And yes, lanosterol eye drops like “Lanomax” are being commercialized online, which scientists specifically called out: commercialization happened despite failed evidence.
The only legitimate current trial is ZOC2017217, a lanosterol-derived drop that just enrolled its first patient in a pilot study to slow lens clouding, not dissolve it.
The newest real science in Nature Communications isn’t drops at all – it’s lipid nanoparticles delivering mRNA encoding lanosterol synthase injected into the anterior chamber of rats’ eyes.
4. Is the FDA blocking it to protect 4 million $3,500-$7,000 surgeries?
No. The FDA can’t block what was never submitted. No company has filed for Phase 3 trials for lanosterol drops for cataracts in humans because Phase 1/2 human data doesn’t work.
Cataract surgery remains one of the safest surgeries in medicine with a 98% success rate.
5. Should Americans order drops from overseas pharmacies?
Do not. Unsterile oily solutions made with olive oil that require 20+ minutes of manual dissolution and filtration can cause severe infection and blindness.
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